Consider the Lobster Vocab

Gustatory

Definition: Adj. Concerned with tasting or the sense of taste Context: "It is all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?" ("Consider the Lobster" David Foster Wallace 60) Ex. Many people are more interested by the gustatory delights they receive rather than were it comes from and how it is prepared.

Aesthetic

Definition: Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty. Contex: David Foster Wallace uses this word in his text when he ponders the question of whether "the gourmet's extra attention and sensibility [is] just supposed to be for aesthetic, gustatory". Ex. The Maine Lobster festival is decorated with red banners, and images of lobsters for aesthetic reasons. (KP)

Apothegm

Definition: a short and instructive saying Context: There's a comprehensive native apothegm: "Camden by the sea. Rockland by the smell". Ex. PETA continuously spreads the apothegm "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way". (SM)

Sentient

Definition: able to perceive or feel things. Context: the author was talking about whether it is ok to boil a sentient being alive Ex. Whether or not a lobster is sentient has been a debate for a while.

Laconic

Definition: adj; using very few words Context: Laconic is used when the narrator is describing how Dick explains the MLF. He says his speaking style is "laconic." Ex. David Wallace lacks the use of a laconic written styler. He is filled with things to say and opinions to share.

Loathsome

Definition: causing hatred or disgust Context: David Foster Wallace was explaining the core paradox of all temming commercial demotic events aren't for everybody. "As a tourist, you become economically significant but existentially loathsome, an insect on a dead thing." Ex. I bet that lobsters think, us humans, are very loathsome because we boil and eat them with a side of melted butter. Yum.

Stuporous

Definition: confused or shocked Context: "However stuporous the lobster is from the trip home, for instance, it tends to come alarmingly to life when placed in boiling water." Ex. The stuporous lobsters are frightened when they are robbed from their benthic habitat on the ocean floor in late July. (KC)

Rudimentary

Definition: involving or limited to basic principles Context: Wallace is describing the feelings the lobsters may be having, "even if it's some rudimentary version of those feelings." Ex. The preschool teacher drew the most rudimentary shapes, like circles and squares, on the board for her students to become familiar with. (AD)

Irksome

Definition: irritating; annoying Context: David Foster Wallace explains how the Maine Lobster Promotion Council is full of "irksome little downers" that tries to counter the idea that lobster is unusually luxe or rich or unhealthy or expensive. Ex. The fact that lobster's lives are cut short to be fed to humans is irksome.

Mitigating

Definition: make less severe, serious, or painful Context: David Foster Wallace explains that some people believe that a mitigating factor in the whole morality-of-boiling-lobsters issue is that they believe animals don't feel the same pain we do. Ex. Peta, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is an American rights organization that has the main goal of finding a way to mitigate animal abuse. (MV)

Demotic

Definition: popular, crowd-pleasing Context: "commercial demotic event" Ex. The annual Memorial Day long weekend is an especially demotic time for Rye families, as the school district expands the days off from three to five--as long as there's not too many snow days, that is. (JE)

Salutary

Definition: producing good effects; beneficial Context: with respect to tourism and traveling Wallace does not think "that radical changes in place and context have a salutary effect." Ex. To me, the reading of this article was a salutary experience because I learned more about the lobster and eating meat. (AV)

Anthropomorphic

Definition: the attribution of human traits to non-human entities Context: Wallace refers to the lobsters' preference of certain temperatures as an "anthropomorphic" metaphor Ex. The rabbit in Alice in Wonderland is an anthropomorphic creature: he wears clothes, has a watch, and can talk. (ML)

Analgesia

Definition: the inability to feel pain, insensibility to pain without loss of consciousness. Context: The author is talking about our body's ability to feel pain as opposed to the lobster's ability to feel pain. Ex. One could only hope that the lobsters are in a state of analgesia when they are being cooked. (AM)

Omnipresent

Definition: widely or constantly encountered; common or widespread Context: Wallace describes the sponsorial Marine Lobster Promotion Council as omnipresent. Ex. The love of lobsters was omnipresent in the town of the David Foster Wallace article. (DL)

Gastronomy

Definition:the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food. Context: the author is talking about the art of food. Ex. Eating at these restaurants is a gastronomic delight.

Screed

Definition: (Noun), a long discourse or essay, especially a diatribe; an informal letter, account, or other piece of writing; a strip (as of a plaster of the thickness planned for the coat) laid on as a guide; a leveling device drawn over freshly poured concrete. (source: Merriam-Webster) Context: I'm not trying to give you a PETA-like screed here - at least I don't think so. Ex. This screed about lobsters made me feel bad about eating fish. (KL)

Endemic

Definition: (adj) Natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native; indigenous Context: Wallace refers to eating lobster as "evidence that some kind of deep unease about eating higher animals is endemic enough to show up in English usage." Ex. The poisonous snake must have come from another country because it is not endemic to our nation (KB)

Hermetic

Definition: (of a seal or closure) complete and airtight. Context: The author was talking about how lobsters used to be stored in containers that were sealed. Ex. If you want the lobster to taste better you must have it in a hermetic container so it stays fresh.

Carniphile

Definition: A person who displays a true love for meat. Context: the author is talking about the love for meat. Ex. There is this large carniphil who eats all the meat at the restaurant.

Euphemism

Definition: A word substituted for one comsidered to be too harsh or blunt when refering to something unpleasent or embarrasing. Context: David Foster Wallace describes the word prepared as a euphemism for the word kill when cooking a lobster. Ex. A euphemism when refering to a lobster would be "prepare" instead of kill. (JM)

Dismemberment

Definition: Breaking a living organism apart Context: David Foster Wallace uses the European Method of cooking by using "Live dismemberment" Ex. The chef sharpened his utensils for the dismemberment of the live lobster. (MWM)

Epicurean

Definition: Having lavish tastes and needs, for example in eating or drinking. Context: "Total paid attendance was over 80,000, due partly to a national CNN spot in June during which a senior Editor of a certain other epicurean magazine hailed the MLF as one of the best food-themed festivals in the world." Ex. The biggest gossip magazines have reported that President Donald J Trump has very epicurean requests when it comes to food. He is reported to have ordered a golden turkey for Thanksgiving.(MZ)

Shrill

Definition: High pitched and piercing in sound quality Context: " I'm curious about whether the reader can identify with any of these reactions and acknowledgements and discomforts. I am also concerned not to come off as shrill or preachy what i really am is confused" Ex. Their shrilling voice annoys me.

Lucrative

Definition: Producing a great deal of profit Context: Tourism and lobster are the mid coast regions two main industries, and they're both warm weather enterprises, and the Maine lobster festival represents less an intersection of the industries than a deliberate collision, joyful and lucrative and loud. Ex. The arrival of the factory will create lucrative jobs for many people in our community.

Segue

Definition: To make a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption, it also is the transition itself Context: Wallace describes how during his conversation with the cab driver there were, "several segues down the road from the PETA anecdotes" or transitions from one subject of conversation to another Ex. In "Consider the Lobster" David Foster Wallace segues his discussion from one point to another about the moral implications of eating lobster. (FG)

Affinity

Definition: a natural liking for someone or something Context: Wallace explains how lobsters have an affinity for a certain temperature and discusses how they also have an affinity for low lighting. Ex. Many supporters of PETA have a natural affinity for animals. (SS)

Behest

Definition: a person's orders or command Context: "one gets the impression it was at his wife's behest" Ex. At PETA's behest, many investigations of animal cruelty have been carried out. (NR)