Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (109 page)

Roland asks permission to walk with Susan into Hambry. Susan says he can accompany her as far as the edge of town. Roland is so pleased that he taps his throat three times again and makes another bow with his leg held out stiffly before him, heel planted in the dirt. “Thankee Miss Delgado!” he says. IV:144–145

3. WOMEN AND BREASTBONE TAP (FORMAL GREETING WHEN A WOMAN IS INTRODUCED TO A MAN):
When Susannah Dean introduces herself to Blaine the insane Mono, she taps her throat rapidly three times with the fingers of her right hand. Roland corrects her. When a woman greets a man, she must use the fingers of her left hand to tap her breastbone.

4. FOR LUCK:
For luck, a man will tap his chest above his heart and then kiss his palm. IV:517

TWIRLING HAND:
A somewhat impatient gesture which we have in our world too. Roland frequently uses it. It means “carry on” or “hurry up.” V:701

YOU ARE SAFE:
If you need to tell someone that he is safe, but you cannot speak out loud, this is what you should do: Cup your hands together and point them at the person who is in danger. This lets the individual know that you can and will help him. W:59

A BOY WHO CAN READ IS A TREASURE TO THE BARONY:
This is one of the Covenant Man’s sayings. W:157

A GUN MUST NEVER BE POINTED AT A PERSON UNLESS YOU WANT TO HURT OR KILL HIM. FOR GUNS HAVE EAGER HEARTS.
This saying came from the Widow Smack’s brother. He was very wise. W:187

A LADY’S ROSES:
A light menstrual period. V:121

A MAN CAN’T PULL HIMSELF UP BY HIS OWN BOOTSTRAPS NO MATTER HOW HARD HE TRIES:
This is one of Cort’s sayings. Roland doesn’t agree with it. VII:33

A ONE-EYED MAN SEES FLAT:
This was one of Cort’s sayings. It means that a person must use both eyes to gain a true perspective. In other words, it is best to try to see a situation from several angles before judging it. V:204

A ROPE SLIPPED IN CHURCH CAN’T BE UNSLIPPED:
Marriage is permanently binding. W:123

A RUSTIE JUST WALKED OVER MY GRAVE (A RUSTIE HAD JUST WALKED OVER HIS GRAVE):
See
RUSTIE WALKED OVER MY GRAVE
,
below

A SOFTENING OF TIME:
In Mid-World, time is no longer constant. It runs erratically. A day is no longer twenty-four hours, the sun doesn’t always rise in the east, etc. V:105

A TALE FOR ANOTHER DAY:
The full saying is,
But all those things are a tale for another day.
This comes at the end of a folktale, when people ask for more information, or when the talespinner wants his audience to return at a later date to hear more yarns. W:268

A WORD TO TUCK BENEATH YOUR HATS:
Here’s something to think about, or to remember. V:336

ABBA KA DABBA:
This is the only magical saying that Tim Ross knows. It is a lot like
abracadabra
in our world. W:180

ABOUT THE GREAT MATTERS, YOU HAVE NO SAY:
In other words, sometimes it is fate, and not the individual, who decides which events are to take place. All we mere mortals can do is hope and pray. This phrase is often used along with THERE WILL BE WATER IF GOD WILLS IT. V:87

ACHES AND MOLLIES:
Aches and pains. VII:314

ADELINA SAYS SHE’S RANDY-O:
This is part of a Mid-World drinking song. VII:520

AFTER A WHILE TALK SICKENS:
There’s only so much to say before you need to stop discussing a matter. V:142

AGE OF MAGIC/AGE OF MACHINES:
According to the ancient history of Mid-World, the universe spun from Gan’s navel, but Gan himself arose from the magical soup of creation called the PRIM. Eventually, the magical tide of the Prim receded, but it left on the shores of the mundane worlds the demons and spirits which human beings occasionally encounter, as well as the Dark Tower and the Beams, which hold the multiverse together. Although the Prim left enough magic to uphold both Tower and Beams for eternity (and enough demons and spirits to give mankind trouble for ages to come), human beings suffered a great loss of faith and sought to replace the magical Beams with manufactured machinery. Unfortunately, machines—like the men who make them—are mortal. Hence, the Age of Magic began the universe, but it seems likely that the Age of Machines will end it. VI:108–12

AIM TIME LIKE A GUN (TO AIM TIME LIKE A GUN):
To time-travel, but to do so with a specific date in mind. V:116

AIM WITH THE EYE, SHOOT WITH THE MIND, KILL WITH THE HEART:
This is the essence of the gunslinger litany, or what a gunslinger must learn to do to become an accomplished killer. V:110

ALL MY GODS ON THE HILL:
This is the equivalent of
Oh my God!
When Roland ulters this phrase, he thumps his forehead with his reduced right hand. W:14

ALL THINGS SERVE KA AND FOLLOW THE BEAM:
A phrase similar to ALL THINGS SERVE THE BEAM. In other words, all things work in harmony with the greater tides of fate. V:706

ALL THINGS SERVE THE BEAM:
All things work in harmony with the greater tides of fate. All events serve a greater purpose, even if we can’t understand what that purpose might be. V:93, VI:266, VII:304

ALL-A-GLOW:
This is a Mid-World term for the imaginative and magical kingdom which children inhabit. VII:23

ALLEYO (PLANNING ALLEYO):
Someone who is planning alleyo is planning to run away. V:395

ALLURE:
The name given to a castle wall-walk. VI:103

ALTERNATE (OR ALTERNATIVE) AMERICAS:
Many levels of the Dark Tower contain versions of the United States, but each version is unique. Hence, when I refer to the many incarnations of America (the versions that are similar to the one found on KEYSTONE EARTH but which are not exactly the same), I use this term.
See
MULTIPLE AMERICAS
,
below

ALWAYS CON YOUR VANTAGE:
This was Cort’s rule. In other words, always stop and examine your whereabouts. VII:778

AMERICA-SIDE:
When our
tet
-mates use the term “America-side,” they are usually referring to New York City, the metropolis where Eddie, Jake, and Susannah lived before entering Mid-World. However, this term could just as easily refer to part of the United States in any of the MULTIPLE AMERICAS. VII:758

AMMIES (WHITE AMMIES):
Nurses. W:36

AMOCO:
In Mid-World, AMOCO: LEAD FREE is a legend of unknown meaning. Roland once met a hermit who gained a religious following by placing an Amoco gasoline hose between his legs and preaching wild, guttural, sullen sermons. Amoco became the totem of a thunder god who was worshipped with a half-mad slaughter of sheep. I:154

AND MAY YOU HAVE TWICE THE NUMBER:
See
MAY YOUR DAYS BE LONG UPON THE EARTH
,
below

**ANIMALS THAT TALK BE TOUGH:
Don’t eat anything that can answer you back. Their flesh isn’t pleasant.

ANTI-TODASH:
According to Roland and Eddie, the heightened reality of our world is like an anti-
todash
force. Our world exists at the heart of the Beam, probably because Stephen King, the creator of Mid-World and the Beams, lives here. VI:265

ANY RO’:
Anyhow. V:407, VI:33, VII:239

AR’EE READY?:
Are you ready? W:12

ARGYOU NOT ABOUT THE HAND YOU ARE DELT IN CARDS OR IN LIFE:
This pithy phrase was written on a sign in the Travellers’ Rest. IV:171

ARTYFAX:
Artifacts, usually left by the Old People of Mid-World. W:64, W:170

ASSUME MAKES AN ASS OUT OF U AND ME:
This particular phrase comes from Eddie Dean of New York. Basically, it means that if you assume something, there’s a good chance that you’ll be proven wrong, and in an embarrassing fashion. V:583

ASTIN:
Roland’s pronunciation of the word
aspirin.
II:98, II:102, V:104, VI:209, VII:41

ATTEND ME:
See
MID-WORLD GESTURES

AUTO-CARRIAGE:
A car. V:518

AVEN-CAR:
See entry in
HIGH SPEECH

AYE:
Yes. Can be used at the end of a sentence. For example,
take heed, aye?
V:161, W:13

AY-YI:
An explanation of surprise or shock. Like “Oh my God” or “JEEZ.” W:47

BABY-BUNTING RHYME:

Baby-bunting, baby-dear,

Baby, bring your berries here.

Chussit, chissit, chassit!

Bring enough to fill your basket.

When Roland was a little boy, his mother sang this song to him.
Chussit, chissit, chassit
are the High Speech words for the numbers seventeen, eighteen, and NINETEEN. VII:23

BAD TIMES ARE ON HORSEBACK:
Bad times are coming quickly. I:163

BAG-FOLKEN:
Bag-people. Unfortunately, many bag-people sleep rough in the cities of our world. VI:80

BAH AND BOLT:
The bah is a crossbow. (It shoots bolts instead of arrows.) Like the people of Calla Bryn Sturgis, Roland’s old friend Jamie DeCurry favored bah and bolt. V:20, V:204, V:324

BAH-BO:
A bah-bo is a baby. It is a term of endearment. VII:149, VII:487

BANNOCK:
Bannocks are herd beasts. They look like buffalo. VII:734, VII:745

BARN RUSTIES:
See
RUSTIES
,
below

BARREL OF THE BEAM (HEART OF THE BEAM):
The energy that flows through the center of the Beam. If you are caught in the barrel of the Beam, you are in the heart of that ceaseless, powerful current. Your hair will probably be standing on end! VI:265, VI:269

BARREL-SHOOTERS:
A type of gun. Vaughn Eisenhart owns two of them. Roland and his childhood friends called these firearms barrel-shooters because of their oversize cylinders. Unlike the cylinders of many other handguns, the cylinder of a barrel-shooter must be revolved by hand after each shot. V:319

BASTED IN A HOT OAST:
A Mid-World saying which basically means “our goose is cooked.” Roland likes to use it. VII:195

BATTLES THAT LAST FIVE MINUTES SPAWN LEGENDS THAT LIVE A THOUSAND YEARS:
This is one of Roland’s sayings. VII:5

BEAM BREAKERS:
The Beam Breakers are powerful psychics who were kidnapped by the Crimson King and brought to End-World. The Red King stationed them in the DEVAR-TOI—a kind of luxurious prison—and set them to the task of destroying the Beams and bringing down the Dark Tower. Although a few of the Breakers rebel against their fate, most of them are pretty comfortable doing their job. Sad but true.
See
BREAKERS
(BEAM BREAKERS),
in
CHARACTERS

BEAMQUAKE:
A Beamquake feels like an earthquake, but it is a tremor felt in all of the worlds. A Beamquake takes place when one of the Tower’s support Beams snaps.
See also
AVEN KAL
,
in
HIGH SPEECH
. VI:14

BEANS, BEANS, THE MUSICAL FRUIT. THE MORE YOU EAT, THE MORE YOU TOOT:
We have this saying in our world too. The raven Zoltan was very fond of it. I:16

BEFORE VICTORY COMES TEMPTATION. AND THE GREATER THE VICTORY TO WIN, THE GREATER THE TEMPTATION TO WITHSTAND:
This was one of Vannay’s sayings. He called it “the one rule with no exceptions.” VII:589, VII:601

BEHOLD YE, THE RETURN OF THE WHITE! AFTER EVIL WAYS AND EVIL DAYS, THE WHITE COMES AGAIN! BE OF GOOD HEART AND
HOLD UP YOUR HEAD, FOR YE HAVE LIVED TO SEE THE WHEEL OF KA BEGIN TO TURN ONCE MORE:
Aunt Talitha of River Crossing utters this pronouncement. III:232

BIDE:
Where you bide is where you live. W:38, W:66

BIG CHARLIE WIND:
The Big Charlie Wind is a death wind. Mercy, from River Crossing, refers to the Big Charlie Wind that “came and almost blew the steeple off the church.” III:248

BIG-HAT STOCK:
Good, threaded stock. IV:206

BIG SKY DADDY:
Some tribes of slow mutants call God “Big Sky Daddy.” V:475

BILL OF CIRCULATION:
A Bill of Circulation is a warrant or order. Often, a Bill of Circulation is an order to get out of town. W:45

BILLY-BUMBLER (BUMBLER, THROCKEN):
A billy-bumbler (also called a throcken) looks like a cross between a raccoon, a woodchuck, and a dachshund. Bumblers’ eyes are gold-black and they wag their little corkscrew tails like dogs. Bumblers are intelligent. In the days they lived with men, they could parrot the words they heard, and some could even count and add. Few wild ones seem to remember how to speak, although Jake’s pet, Oy, does. Originally, Bumblers were bred to keep down vermin, including the nasty Grandfather Fleas. They were also kept to predict the coming of STARKBLASTS. If Oy is anything to go by, they are devoted to those they love and fiercely protective of them. According to the ferryman Bix, bumblers’ ability to predict starkblasts is their BRIGHT, or special talent.
See also
OY
,
in
CHARACTERS

BIN-RUSTIES:
Bin-rusties are swallows. W:19, W:20

BINGO-WEED:
In Mid-World, people chew bingo-weed. It stains the tongue yellow. W:286

BINNIE BUGS:
These bugs hover over the swamps of Mid-Forest. While she is possessed by Mia, Susannah snatches them out of the air and gobbles them to feed her chap. (Yum.) V:82

BIT O’ TAIL:
“Bit of ass.” A man’s bit o’ tail is his woman on the side, or his mistress. V:411

BLACK COLLAR OF MOURNING:
After Gabrielle Deschain’s death, every man in Gilead wore either a black mourning collar or a black band around his shirtsleeve. Women wore black nets over their hair. This continued for six months. W:35