AtDtDA23: A Sot of French Ladies' Lapdog

[Dave Monroe]

"'What kind of a dog's that?' he asked Ruperta at one point.
   "'Mouffette?  She's a papillon ... a sort of French ladies'
lapdog.'" (AtD, Pt. III, p. 665)


Mouffette

French: Skunk.


papillon

French: Butterfly.

Any of a breed of small dog related to the spaniel, having a long
silky coat, a bushy tail that curves over its back, and large ears
shaped like the wings of a butterfly

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_644-677#Page_665


"a sort of French ladies' lapdog"

Butterfly strap-on vibrator is a clitoral sex toy featuring a
vibrating body in the shape of a butterfly and straps attached to it
for wearing on the waist and thighs. The name of the vibrator was
taken from the shape of a butterfly with wings providing the
stimulation of clitoris and labia....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_vibrator


"a French 'lap' dog!"

Main Entry: lap
Pronunciation: \ˈlap\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English lappe, from Old English læppa; akin to Old
High German lappa flap
Date: before 12th century
1 a: a loose overlapping or hanging panel or flap especially of a
garment barchaic : the skirt of a coat or dress
2 a: the clothing that lies on the knees, thighs, and lower part of
the trunk when one sits b: the front part of the lower trunk and
thighs of a seated person ...

Main Entry: lap
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): lapped; lap·ping
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lapian; akin to Old High
German laffan to lick, Latin lambere, Greek laphyssein to devour
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb
1: to take in food or drink with the tongue
2 a: to make a gentle intermittent splashing sound b: to move in
little waves : wash
transitive verb
1 a: to take in (food or drink) with the tongue b: to take in or
absorb eagerly or quickly —used with up<the crowd lapped up every word
he said>
2: to flow or splash against in little waves ...

http://m-w.com/dictionary


"'A-and--'"

Cf. ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=iPDGp7VT8H8C


"'Oboy, oboy'"

Cf. ...

"'Oboy, oboy.'" (GR, Pt. II, p. 333)

http://books.google.com/books?id=iPDGp7VT8H8C&pg=PA199&dq=gravity%27s+rainbow+%22a-and%22&sig=KeI_TGuEGZRXldlxVExE_7V5Cgk#PPA333,M1


"'yaahhgghh!'"

Anybody cataloguing these?  Oh, Mr. Ware ...


"Reader, she bit him"

Cf. ...

"Reader, she married him."

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1260
http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0142437204
http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0192839659
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/eyreov.html

N.B.--this episode occurs from p. 665 to p. 667, mostly on p. 666 ...