Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (111 page)

DEAR HEART:
A term of affection. W:68

DELAH:
See entry in
HIGH SPEECH

DEMON MOON:
The Demon Moon is the demonic, red-faced moon that rises during the season of REAP.
See also
REAP MOON
,
below, and
MID-WORLD MOONS
at the beginning of this
Concordance. VII:659

DEUCIES:
This term is used by the Pubes of Lud. It is a negative term and seems to imply that the person being described is either cowardly or foolish. III:319

DEVIL DUST/DEVIL POWDER:
This is Roland’s term for cocaine. It reminds him of devil grass.
See
DEMONS/SPIRITS/DEVILS
,
in
CHARACTERS

DEVIL GRASS:
Devil grass is a narcotic weed that grows in the wastelands of Mid-World. It is both poisonous and addictive. Those who become addicted to the grass are usually too poor to afford alcohol. They begin by smoking this nasty weed and end up chewing it. Chewers have green teeth and a rank stench. Devil grass gives its users dreams, nightmares, then death. It kills faster than
liquor. Border Dwellers use devil grass for fuel since they have little else to burn. It gives off a greasy light and many believe that beckoning devils dance in the flames.
See
DEMONS/SPIRITS/DEVILS
: DEVIL GRASS,
in
CHARACTERS

DIANA’S DREAM:
Diana’s Dream is a folktale similar to our story “The Lady or the Tiger?”
For page references, see
MID-WORLD FOLKLORE
,
in
CHARACTERS

DIBBIN:
A magical cloth that looks a little bit like a napkin, but its uses are many. When it is shaken out, it grows exponentially larger, and can act as a shelter from any storm, even a STARKBLAST. When folded and used with a magic feather from the tail of the Eagle Guardian, Garuda, it can act as a flying carpet. W:253

DIDDLESTICK:
The whores in Gilead’s Lower Town use this term. It probably means a dildo. W:42

DIED WHILE POSESSED OF A DEMON WHICH TROUBLED HER SPIRIT:
In Gilead, this is what was said when a person of high blood committed suicide. W:37

DIG OUT THY EARS AND LISTEN:
Listen well. W:160

DIM:
Dim
has several meanings. Sorcerers and witches can make themselves
dim,
or difficult to see. When a person is
dim
he or she is not invisible, merely shadowy.
The dim
is like déjà-vu. When Susan Delgado meets with Roland she feels the
dim,
or the sense that she has met him before, and feels faint. When Henchick of the Manni was close to BLACK THIRTEEN, Maerlyn’s evil magic ball, he began to feel
dim.
In this latter case,
dim
implies going TODASH, or slipping between worlds. IV:256, IV:416, V:414, VI:31

DINH:
See entry in
HIGH SPEECH

DIPOLAR:
As we learned in
The Waste Lands,
Lud’s computers ran on either dipolar or unipolar circuits. In fact, it seems as though Mid-World’s technology was based on slo-trans engines as well as dipolar and unipolar circuitry. III:355, V:72, V:563

DIRECTIVE NINETEEN:
This phrase is often used by North Central Positronics robots and mechanisms when they are not allowed to share additional information. (In order to bypass Directive Nineteen, you have to use a password. Occasionally, you may even be asked to spell the password.) Often Directive Nineteen is an excuse to withhold information which could help an individual on his quest or perhaps even keep him safe from danger. We can’t help but wonder whether Directive Nineteen was programmed into North Central Positronics mechanisms by the servants of the Crimson King. W:220, W:222

DISTRESSAL OF A LADY:
In Eluria, this is a legalistic euphemism for rape. E:151

DIT-DAH WIRE:
A telegraph. In Debaria, they have a dit-dah wire and several JING-JANGS. W:55

DJINNI:
An evil genie. III:315

DO BUMBLERS LEARN TO SPEAK BACKWARD? NO MORE THAN CATS CHANGE THEIR SPOTS:
In other words, people don’t change. IV:251

**DO THAT I BEG YA:
Please do it.

DO YER KEN:
This is a term Gasher uses for “do you know.” III:297

DO YOU CALL ME DINH? WILL YOU SHARE KHEF WITH ME AND DRINK THIS WATER?:
Once they feel the impending weight of KA-SHUME upon them, Roland’s KA-TET performs this ritual to reaffirm the bonds between them. Roland asks each of his
ka-tet
mates, in turn, these two questions. They answer in the affirmative and then share KHEF with him, symbolized by a sip of water. VII:258

DO YOU COME FOR AID AND SUCCOR?:
See
WILL YOU OPEN TO US IF WE OPEN TO YOU?
,
below

**DO YOU KENNIT?:
Do you understand?

DO YOU SEE US FOR WHAT WE ARE, AND ACCEPT WHAT WE DO?:
See
WILL YOU OPEN TO US IF WE OPEN TO YOU?
,
below

**DO YOU SEE YOUR SISTER’S BUM?:
This was one of Cort’s sayings. It means “What are you staring at?”

DO YOU SET YOUR WATCH AND WARRANT ON IT?:
Do you guarantee it? VI:283

DO YOU SWEAR ON YOUR WATCH AND WARRANT?:
Do you swear it is true? W:46

DO’EE KEN:
Do you know.
(More entries can be found in the
CALLA BRYN STURGIS
section.)
W:15

DOCKER’S CLUTCH:
Roland’s term for a gunholder. He uses this term for both hidden gunholders (such as the one under the counter at Clements Guns and Sporting Goods) and shoulder holsters. II:351, III:13, V:490, V:559

DOCKEY:
Chicory. In River Crossing, they make coffee from Dockey. III:237

DOES THEE ASK IF I PLAY THE TOADY?:
This phrase has several possible meanings. It could translate as “Are you calling me a liar?” but it seems more likely that it means “Do you really think I’m sucking up to you?” V:416

DOLINA:
A kind of blanket found in Hambry. IV:282–83

DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF PUTTING YOUR HEART NEAR HIS HAND:
Don’t leave yourself emotionally vulnerable. II:104

DON’T SHILLY-SHALLY:
Don’t mess about; don’t waste time. V:116

DOUBLE-STEEL:
Rail lines. W:294

’DOWNERS:
One of Gilead’s mealtimes. Marten (a secret glutton) put sugar in his coffee in mornings and at ’Downers. II:103

DRAWERS:
The Drawers are places that are spoiled or useless or both. However, they are also places of extreme power, like psychic trash middens. VII:733

DROGUE AND FORWARD:
Mid-World cowboys hired to protect caravans will ride drogue-and-forward to protect their convoy. In other words, they will ride before and behind. E:178

DROMEDARY:
A camel. Young Bill Streeter’s da’ liked to say that their mule, Millie, was as solid as a dromedary. VI:160, W:88

DRY TWIST (OLD BONE-TWIST MAN):
Arthritis. V:241, V:243, VI:10, VI:273

DUDS:
Clothes. W:48

DUST-DEVILS:
Dust that rises up in little tornado-like shapes. Dust-devils appear to be animated by evil spirits. Roland encounters dust-devils on the hardpan of the Mohaine Desert, and then again in the borderland town of Calla Bryn Sturgis. I:14, V:642

ELAPHAUNTS:
Roland heard of these great creatures when he was a child. They are supposed to bury their own dead. II:29

EFDAY:
Efday and Ethday were the two days of the week when Debaria’s jail was filled with drunken cowpunchers and farmhands. They are probably Saturday and Sunday. W:62

ELD (THE WAY OF ELD, THE WAY OF THE ELD, ELD’S WAY):
“It’s no trick,” Roland said. “Never think it. It’s the Way of the Eld. We are of that an-tet, khef and kin, watch and warrant.” The Way of the Eld signifies the way in which true gunslingers must conduct themselves. Gunslingers must protect the weak if it is at all within their power to do so.
For additional discussion and page references, see
ELD, ARTHUR
,
in
CHARACTERS

ELD OF THE ELD:
One of Arthur Eld’s true descendants. W:60

ELD’S LAST FELLOWSHIP:
The tapestry in the Dixie Pig depicts Arthur Eld’s last fellowship. However, in that tapestry, Eld’s rite is blasphemed, as it shows Arthur, his lady, and his knights taking part in a cannibal’s feast. VII:26

ELEPHAUNT:
An elephant. W:256

ELE-VAYDORS:
Roland’s word for elevators. VII:494

ENJIE:
The engineer, or driver, of a train. W:62

ETHDAY:
Efday and Ethday were the two days of the week when Debaria’s jail was filled with drunken cowpunchers and farmhands. They are probably Saturday and Sunday. W:62

FAIR AND TRUE:
If you say Roland and his KA-TET are gunslingers “fair and true,” you mean that they are—without a doubt—true gunslingers. V:230

FAIR-DAY GOOSE:
In Roland’s world, a person won the Fair-Day goose if he or she won a Fair-Day riddling contest. In
Song of Susannah,
we find out that this phrase has a special significance for Stephen King. When he and his brother finished all their chores and did them well, his mother would tell them both that they’d won the Fair-Day goose. III:276–77, VI:277–78

FAIR-DAY RIDDLING:
In Gilead-that-was, riddling was taken very seriously. Riddling contests were held during each of the seasonal festivals, especially during the festivals of Wide Earth and Full Earth. Riddles were considered to be full of power and were thought to make the crops grow stronger. III:276–77, III:416–17

FAIR-DAY SHOOTING CONTEST:
A shooting gallery found at fairs both in our world and Mid-World. The usual targets are clay birds. The usual prize (in our world at least) is a stuffed toy. In Mid-World, you might win a FAIR-DAY GOOSE. VI:146

FAKEMENT:
It can mean an event or a scene. It can also mean a falsehood. III:317, III:337

FALLING SICKNESS (KING’S EVIL):
This is the disease that killed Roland’s childhood friend Wallace. Wallace was the son of Vannay, Roland’s tutor. V:78

FAN-GON:
See entry in
HIGH SPEECH

FAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TIME’S HORIZON:
Long, long ago. VI:162

FARO:
One of the games (along with Watch Me) damned by Sylvia Pittston during her Tull sermons. I:50

FASHED:
Riled up. V:571.
See also
BOOM-FLURRY
,
in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT

FATHER, GUIDE MY HANDS AND HEART SO THAT NO PART OF THE ANIMAL WILL BE WASTED:
A hunter’s prayer. IV:93

FAULT ALWAYS LIES IN THE SAME PLACE—WITH HIM WEAK ENOUGH TO LAY BLAME:
This is one of Cort’s sayings. II:174

FEAR ME NOT, BUT HEAR ME WELL:
Don’t be afraid, but listen well to what I have to say. V:250

**FEAST OF JOSEPH FAIRTIME:
People could buy captive tubes of swamp gas at this fair. The swamp-gas tubes looked something like neon. In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
it is renamed the Feast of Reaptide Fair. I:186

FILL (THIS IS NOT OUR FILL):
Your fill is your territory. If a place is not your fill, it is not your territory and is not your responsibility. W:61

FIN DE AÑO:
The end-of-the-year celebration. Reap Night. IV:136

FIREDIM:
A sparkling jewel that reflects light. They come in a variety of colors. Some are red, like rubies; some are green, like emeralds. Tick-Tock’s eyes sometimes glow like firedims. II:39–40, III:359

FIREDIM TUBES:
In Lud, they call neon tubes “firedim tubes.” III:366

**FIRST BLOOD! FIRST BLOOD TO MY BOSOM:
In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
Cuthbert says this when Roland begins to best Cort. It’s what is said when the first blood is drawn during a coming-of-age battle.

FIRST THE SMILES, THEN THE LIES. LAST COMES GUNFIRE:
Both Roland’s father and Cuthbert Allgood’s father followed this rule when maneuvering in potentially hostile territory. It shows that the gunslingers had to use guile as well as diplomacy. V:590

FIST TO FOREHEAD:
See
MID-WORLD GESTURES

FIVE MINUTES’ WORTH OF BLOOD AND STUPIDITY:
Roland’s description of battle. V:679

FLOWER (TO FLOWER):
When disease grows, it flowers. Irene Tassenbaum had a lump removed from her breast before cancer could flower. VII:482

FOLKEN:
Folks, or ordinary people. VII:242, VII:350

FOOD AND PALAVER DON’T MIX:
Food and heavy discussion don’t mix. V:134

FOO-LIGHTS:
See
HOBS
,
below

FOOL NOT YOUR MOTHER ’LESS SHE’S OUT OF FACE:
In other words, don’t lie. E:183

FOOLS ARE THE ONLY FOLK ON EARTH WHO CAN ABSOLUTELY COUNT ON GETTING WHAT THEY DESERVE:
Fools always get what they deserve. IV:160

FOR A PRETTY:
This doesn’t have a direct translation. You often ask someone to do something “for a pretty.” It seems to sometimes mean “please.” It can also be a rhetorical statement added on to the end of a sentence. I:29, I:198

FOR THESE ARE MINE, SURE AS I AM THEIRS. WE ARE ROUND AND ROLL AS WE DO:
Essentially, this means “We are family.” V:110

FOR YOUR FATHER’S SAKE:
Roland often uses this phrase. It means “Do it for your honor’s sake.” In Mid-World, or at least in the In-World baronies, culture was patriarchal. A gunslinger did not just bring honor (or disgrace) upon himself, but upon his father and all of his father’s fathers. IV:22, IV:129, V:91, V:245