M&D, p. 8: "imbecile"

[jbor at bigpond.com]

More of a mixed metaphor really, in keeping with Cherrycoke's prolixity 
and his hyperbolic self-pity. Note also the acute Pynchon uses on the 
word, acknowledging its etymological route via the French language (and 
its pronunciation). I'd imagine that its usage in English was still 
very new at that point in time.

best

On 11/01/2006:

> On page 8 of M&D, Rev. C., in confessing that he's an unreliable 
> narrator, compares himself to a shipwreck: "stoven, dismasted, 
> imbecile with age."  By "imbecile," he literally means that age has 
> made him stupid and forgetful, but I got curious and looked up 
> "imbecile."  It comes from the Latin "imbecillus," meaning "without a 
> supporting staff" (OED).  So just as the wrecked ship of his person is 
> "dismasted," it is also "without a staff."  A neat hidden extension of 
> the metaphor.