Gerald Durrell - The Whispering Land

at a saucy angle – at an angle that gave her a smart, stylish and slightly impertinent look

a lavaflow of chins – a great number of chins resembling a stream of lava flowing from a volcan

buenos dias (Sp.) - good day, good morning

to hoick out – to lift or hoist, especially rapidly or with a jerk

to let her sex down – to fail in upholding the glory of her sex

to qualify – here to modify a statement, to make it less absolute (the word is generally used when speaking about a severe or unpleasant remark)

short of jumping out of the window – except jumping out of the window

terrific (colloq.) - most wonderful, thrilling

magnum ['maegnam] – a bottle containing two quarts of wine (2.25 liters)

tarmac – here a part of airfield covered with tarmac ( short for tar-macadam, a layer of broken stone mixed with tar, used as road-surface)

old world – old-fashioned

hydrangea – a bush with large clusters of white, blue and pink flowers

praying mantis – an insect of a kind that holds its forelegs in a position suggesting hands folded in prayer

a coffee = a cup of coffee

medialunas (Sp.) - small cakes of half-moon shape

mudguard – a metal cover for the wheel of a motor-car, to stop mud as it flies up

media hora (Sp.) – literally, the middle hour, i.e. a break for rest in the middle of the day

molar – a molar tooth, a double tooth with a wide surface

Herculean task – a task requiring the strength of Hercules, like one of the Twelve Tasks (or Twelve Labors) of the famous hero of Greek mythology

on the last leg – in the final stage

by and large – on the whole

Durrell compares the country covered with cacti (pi. of cactus) to a typical surrealist landscape (e. g. one by Salvador Dali, Spanish painter, leader of surrealist school), where you can see all sorts of strange, distorted plants, gigantic cacti among them.

largesse (archaic) – a generous gift bestowed by a great person

foyer ['foiei] – here hall

protégée (Fr.) – a woman who is under the care of another person

en route (Fr.) – on the way; here during the trip

to look somebody up (colloq.) – to pay an informal visit to somebody, to call on somebody

The author means that the woman, her son and the rest of the family were all so stout that, standing side by side, they looked like the front of a huge building made of fat.

that lay cupped in a half-moon of mountains – that lay surrounded by a semi-circular range of mountains, as if in a cup

viridescence – greenishness, the adjective viridescent being a bookish synonym for green

parakeet ['paereki: t] – a long-tailed bird of the parrot family, of small size and slender form

sloe-coloured – the color of the sloe, small, blue-black, plumlike fruit of blackthorn

bloom – the grayish powdery coating on various fruits, as the plum, grape, etc. and on some leaves; this word, applied as it is to sloe-colored human eyes, is highly appropriate here

nave – the part of a church from the inner door to the choir; it rises higher than the aisles flanking it and is often separated from them by an arcade

riot – here abundance, profusion, great quantity

gin-and-tonic – the usual mixture of gin (a strong alcoholic drink made from grain) with some tonic, i.e. stimulating beverage (e. g. Coca-Cola)

the usual run – the usual collection

¡Que lindo… que bicho mas lindo! (Sp.) – How beautiful… what a beautiful animal!

humming-birds – a group of very small, brightly colored birds with a long, slender bill and narrow wings that vibrate rapidly and make a humming sound in flight

station-wagon – a motor-car with folding or removable rear seats and a back end that opens for easy loading of the luggage, etc.

exuding good-will and personality – trying his best to look friendly but stern (the noun personality here is used in a combined meaning of 'personal charm' and 'strength of character')

a red-fronted Tucuman Amazon – a red-breasted parrot of central and South America

acquisitive – greedy, betraying the wish to acquire the parrot

to play one's trump card – to make use of one's best weapon (or argument) for gaining one's end

¿Como te va, Blanco? (Sp.) – How are you, Blanco?

Madre de Dios (Sp.) – Mother of God, the Virgin Mary

hijo de puta (Sp.) – son of a whore

¿Como te va, como te va, que tal? (Sp.) – How are you, how are you, how are you getting on?

estupido, muy estupido (Sp.) – stupid, very stupid

to run to earth – to hunt down, to find by search

guan [gwa:.n] (Sp.) – a large game-bird of Central and South America

onomatopoeic – imitative in sound (in linguistics the term is used to indicate a word formed in approximate imitation of some sound, e. g. tinkle, buzz, etc.)

to go – here to assume

Lorito – the common Spanish name for a parrot, the same as Polly in English

gringo (Sp.) – a foreigner, especially an Englishman or an American: a term current in South America

coral snake – a small, poisonous snake with coral-red yellow and black bands around its body, found in the south-eastern United States and in subtropical America

Old School tie – a necktie with a special pattern worn by former pupils of some particular English public school. The habit of wearing this kind of tie is to the author an indication of an excessive respect for one's social position, a sort of snobbery which he finds (together with the tie itself) revolting: see also p. 165.