All right, for whatever reason, WICKED has a lot of strange words and odd references that I think should be brought to attention, just cuz, I think it's funny ... so below I've compiled a short list of some of the words in the show (along with definitions) that I was truly hazy about or just had no clue.... some, I still don't know. Enjoy!
fervid - very hot
detestation - extreme hatred or dislike
tarter - agreeably sharp or acid to the taste
martyr - a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion
disgusticified - ?
rife - prevalent especially to an increasing degree
swankified - coolest, best
flounce - a strip of fabric attached by one edge
cohorts - a group of individuals having a statistical factor (as age or class membership) in common in a demographic study
dialysis - the separation of substances in solution by means of their unequal diffusion through semipermeable membranes; especially: such a separation of colloids from soluble substances
clandestinely - marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy
quoxwood tree - ?
hoi polloi - the general populace
mage - a: a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians b: often capitalized : one of the traditionally three wise men from the East paying homage to the infant Jesus
tandem - working or occurring in conjunction with each other
surreptitially - ?
bally hoo - ?
ambiguities - an ambiguous expression
creed - a set of fundamental beliefs; also: a guiding principle
circumvented - to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem
mooring - a device (as a line or chain) by which an object is secured in place
anyone wanna help with definitions???
feel free to add to the list.
you do realize that most of these are actual words and existed BW (before Wicked)... but i'll play along...
surreptitiously - Obtained, done, or made by clandestine or stealthy means. Acting with or marked by stealth.
ballyhoo - Sensational or clamorous advertising or publicity.
Noisy shouting or uproar.
quoxwood tree - a very tall tree native to Oz
Bali Hai - will call you.
joey - help me out here to refresh my memory - but weren't these few new ones contrived for the play and not at all in the book? I don't recall anyone in the book saying stupid crap like "detestation"...what a stupid script.
I'm pretty sure that the majority of those words aren't in the book. I just finished reading it, and I don't even remember qouxwood trees being referenced.
I think some slash and burn of the English language was done for the purpose of a convenient lyric. Rhyming couplets and the like.
blech
redhot, the only word on this list that is made up is quoxwood... all others are in the dictionary... it says so... right there...
If I remember right "quoxwood tree" was right from the Baum book. A made up name for a made up place.
B
wait - detestation and disgusticified (what?) are in the Dictionary????? even if that's true - they were used very horribly in the show...LOL....
oh yeah, degustificified... or, whatever... that one isn't in the dictionary... but it's used in reference to the disbelief that Galinda has to room "with someone so disgusticified"...
Updated On: 5/13/04 at 09:21 AM
wow - you have a good memory - since we saw that show on Halloween almost 7 months ago!!!!!
I see nothing wrong with the "ozification" of the English language for the purpose of enhancing the lyrics or dialogue. It does take place in a mythical land, after all, so who cares?
I do think it is funny that most of the "strange words and odd references" are actually pretty common in literature and some of them are just common (martyr, creed, tart, detest, ambiguious).
They're just words that I had never heard before and decided to look up, what's wrong with that?
nothing... i thought it was kinda fun!
i only wish that hari-kari was in that show...
-d.b.j-
Hoi Polloi is greek for "higher class"
Well, every dictionary says something different....
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