IPA: [waInd] – pronounced like “winding road.” referring to the coiling nature of the cave passageways.
“at the end of this wind” refers to finding a cavern opening, that you could profit off of, after traversing the winding tunnels
Category: Words & Phrases
“the luck”
In the play, Nellie, Homer, and Floyd himself reference the “luck” that Floyd has. In reality, Floyd referred to it as his “body magnetism” and always superstitiously carried a needle from a broken compass in his pocket, found by the undertaker who examined his body.
outlander
- derogatory term used by the locals to describe the intruders, who usually didn’t understand the terrain, who were taking charge.
hawker/huckster
- vendor of small items, usually advertises by shouting
- seller of wares door-to-door, with a small stall
gypsum flowers
- curving, fibrous crystals that radiate out from a center, looking like flowers; formed by certain minerals found in caves.
toddling
- moving in short, uneven steps like a toddler.
Mary Pickford
- known as “America’s Sweetheart,” Pickford was a Hollywood film star, performing in silent films as a young girl before moving into talking pictures.
Eddie Bray
- Eddie “Spark Plug” Bray was a sixteen-year-old “champion fighter” from Arkansas. In reality, he had fought only once, but used the limelight of the acting as a rescuer to launch himself onto the vaudeville circuit.
Poe’s “The Pit and The Pendulum”
- a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe, describing the torture of a prisoner during the Spanish Inquisition. It focuses on death anxiety, a state of being trapped, and a terrorized narrator.
model T/model A
- the Ford Model T was considered the first automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, sold from 1908 to 1927.
- the Model A was the second model, successfully replacing the 18-year-old Model T in 1927. It was sold until 1932, when new models were introduced.
Floyd Collins - University of Utah 