Gerald Durrell - The Whispering Land

magenta – a brilliant crimson color

scrunched our way – made our way noisily grinding the gravel under the wheels of the car (cf. note to p. 20)

to switchback – to follow a zigzag route in a mountainous region

peon ['pi:on] – in Mexico and Spanish South America, a laborer, especially one working to pay off a debt

bombachas (Sp,) - wide trousers

asado (Sp.) - a sheep roasted whole

manana (Sp.) - tomorrow

headwaiter – chief waiter at a restaurant, generally wearing a black suit and a snow-white shirt-front; the author compares penguins to head waiters because of their coloring, and also because of their peculiar shuffling gait

biscuit-colored – of the characteristic light-brown colour of biscuit, i.e. porcelain after the first firing and before being glazed or painted

guanaco [gwar'neikou] -a wild llama ['la:ma] of the Andes with reddish-brown wool

finger – here the breadth of a finger (about an inch), a measure generally used when pouring drinks

hora los pinguinos (Sp.) - presently (you shall see) the penguins

to pock-mark – to make numerous marks or scars like those left by smallpox; to dot

pigmy (or pygmy) – any person, animal or plant abnormally undersized, a dwarf

fallen arches – flat feet, feet not normally arched, with the arch weakened; a professional disease with waiters

debutante I'debjuta:nt] – a girl making her first appearance in society, especially (in England) a girl presented to the king and queen at court

outsize – too big for one

wattle – a fold of loose flesh hanging from the neck of some birds, i.e. turkeys

nerve – self-control, courage

jig-saw puzzle – a picture pasted on board and cut in irregular pieces with a jig-saw; one has to fit the pieces together so as to make the picture (common children's game)

to negotiate – here to get over, to surmount (often said about fences and other obstacles)

tummy – a nursery and colloquial word for stomach, belly

to get the worst of the climb over – to have done with the most difficult part of the climb

to throw one off balance – to make one lose one's balance

all-in wrestling match – a general struggle

to run the gauntlet – as a punishment, to run between two lines of men who strike the victim as he passes

to regurgitate – to bring (partly-digested food) from the stomach back to the mouth; to get one to do something – to make one do it

in no uncertain fashion – without hesitation or doubt, in a determined, resolute manner

from stem to stern – from the front to the back part of a ship, throughout the whole length of the ship; here throughout the whole length of the bird's body (another instance of a naval term used ironically; cf. amidships on p. 8)

minute [mai'nju:t] – very small

pandemonium ['paendi'mounjem] – a scene of great disorder and confusion (as in a place inhabited by all the demons)

digestive reverie ['reveri] – a quiet, thoughtful state during the process of digestion

Vacanttum – probably Vacant-tum (my), empty belly (the word looks amusingly like a biological term of Latin origin)

the product of an unhappy home-life – a cliché of modern sociological writings, here used ironically

melee ['melei] (Fr.) - a confused fight

air-pocket – a seeming vacuum in the air causing the aircraft to drop some distance; it produces a very unpleasant sensation of sinking stomach

nifty (U.S. slang) - here quick, nimble

to qualify for – to give a right to

a diaphanous garment – a transparent one, one through which the contours of the body are clearly seen

mammary development (cf. below chest expansion ) - ironical paraphrases for size of the bust

a companion piece – the second of a pair, a thing that matches or complements another (here the author means a picture whose subject would match that of the one he discusses)

to be out to do something (colloq.) - to seek, to aim at doing something, taking great pains with it

much of a muchness (colloq.) - very nearly the same

mate (Sp.) – an aromatic beverage prepared in South America from the leaves of the Paraguay tea plant

via – by way of, through, as in "from Exeter to York via London"; here used jocularly

breath-taking – so striking as to take one's breath away, make one breathless with astonishment and admiration

boleadoras (Sp.) - a form of weapon used by the Paraguay Indians, the Patagonians, and others in South America. It consists of a rope or thong with balls of stone or metal attached to it. When used, it is swung round the head by one end and then hurled at an animal so as to entangle its limbs.

passing – here disappearance

Margate – the favorite seaside resort of London holiday-makers

left-overs (Amer.) - remains

esto, una (Sp.) - here's one

to pull somebody's leg – to make fun of somebody

to get one's own back on somebody – to take one's revenge

armadillo [ama'dilou] – a burrowing animal of South America, with a body encased in bony armour, and a habit of rolling itself up into a ball when in danger

castanetted their beaks – made a sound like a pair of castanets with their beaks

thumb-smudges of cloud – the author compares the clouds visible here and there in the sky with smudges of paint left on a canvas by a careless painter's thumb

to shrug something off – to dismiss it with a shrug of the shoulders

back-breaking potholes – holes in a road fit to break one's back when driving over them

had played me false – had failed me, had deceived me