Peter and the Starcatcher - GLOSSARY

(from Music Theatre International)

The glossary below includes explanations of many of the script’s less common words and expressions. It is not necessary for students to be aware of all of these terms to understand the play, however, some introduction will open the world of the play to your students.

Nautical Terms

Aft: At or toward the stern of a ship.

Armada: A fleet of war ships.

Bilge: The deepest part of a ship’s hull where any leakage and spray collects.

Capstan: An apparatus, rotated manually, used for hoisting weights and heavy sails. It consists of a vertical spool-shaped cylinder, around which rope is wound.

Cesspit: A pit for sewage or other waste.

Davy Jones: The bottom of the sea. “Davy Jones’s Locker” refers to the grave of those who perish at sea.

Foretop: A platform mounted at the head of a ship’s foremast (the forward lower-mast).

Frigate: A fast naval vessel of the 17th-19th centuries.

Frammistan: Also called “framistat,” a nonsense word referring to a part or device one doesn’t really understand or know the proper name for.

Futtocks: One of the middle timbers forming the curved portion of the ship’s frame.

Gangway: An opening in the railing or bulwark of a ship, into which a gangplank fits. Today, it is often used interchangeably with “gangplank.” Can also be an especially narrow passageway.

Gunter: A manner of rigging a sail attached to a spar to a short mast, so that the spar can slide up the mast in order to spread the sail.

Jib: The triangular shaped sail at the front of the ship.

Jolly Roger: A pirate flag with skull and cross bones. Black flags indicated pirates aboard the ship would consider showing mercy, while red flags meant no mercy would be shown.

Knots: The nautical measure of speed. Knots are determined using pieces of knotted string fastened, at intervals, to the log-line; the number of pieces that run out while the sand-glass is running indicates the ship’s speed.

Longboat: The largest open boat belonging to a sailing vessel, powered by sail or oars. Main-brace (61): The principal line that controls the rotation of a sail.

Mast: An upright pole, usually raked, which is fixed or stepped in the keel of a sailing ship in order to support the sails, either directly or by means of horizontal spars.

Merchant sailors: Sailors on a trade vessel.

Plank: A board or ramp used as a temporary footbridge from a ship to the dock. Also known as “gangplank.” To “walk the plank” is to be forced to move along a plank over the ship’s side to a watery death.

Poop: A superstructure installed on a raised afterdeck, which, in large ships, comprises the roof of the captain’s cabin. Describing the Neverland as “long in the poop” implies that the old ship has seen better days.

Red over white over red: Warning lights on a ship that signal that it has restricted maneuverability.

Spar: Long, round bits of wood to which sails are bent.

Starboard: The right-hand side of a ship when facing forward. The term began with the Vikings who called a ship’s side its “board” and placed the steering oar (the “star”) on the right side.

Stem: The bow of the ship.

Stern: The aftermost part of the ship’s hull (the body of the ship between the deck and the keel).

Swag: Plunder or booty; items a pirate has stolen.

Sea Life & Other Creatures

Ahi: A large tuna fish, especially the bigeye tuna and the yellowfin tuna.

Antipodes: A group of inhospitable volcanic islands south east of, and belonging to, New Zealand.

Archipelago: A large group or chain of islands.

Arrowtooth: A fish in the flounder family. Habitat ranges from central California to the eastern Bering Sea. The most abundant fish in the Gulf of Alaska.

Dodo: A clumsy, flightless bird extinct since 1662. Related to the pigeon, but about the size of a turkey, it inhabited the islands of Mauritius.

Leviathan: A sea monster, or any huge marine mammal such as the whale.

Mahi mahi: The Hawaiian name for the species called the dolphinfish (no relation to dolphins). A large marine food and game fish found worldwide in tropical waters, having an iridescent blue back, yellow sides, a steep blunted forehead, and a long, continuous dorsal fin.

Porpoise: A cetacean (sea mammal) closely related to the whale and the dolphin. Porpoises are often confused with dolphins but there are some visible differences between the two, including the porpoise’s shorter, flattened beak.

Smelt: A species of small, silvery saltwater fish found in cold northern waters. A common food source for salmon and lake trout. Their yellow or orange eggs, also known as

Britishisms & Other Terms

America’s Cup: A trophy awarded to the winner of the America’s Cup match races between two sailing yachts. In 1851, the first match occurred during the first world’s fair, hosted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, when six members of the New York Yacht Club built a racing yacht so advanced that Her Majesty’s yachtsmen didn’t want to race. The America (as the winning yacht was called) won that race and the trophy was renamed America’s Cup in its honor. The Americans held on to the trophy for 132 years.

Ayn Rand: The controversial author of books such as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Developed a philosophical system called Objectivism largely ignored by academic philosophers, but which held significance among libertarians and conservatives.

Appellation: A name or title.

Attaque coulé: A fencing term for an attack that slides along the opponent’s blade.

Ay de mí: Spanish for “oh, my.”

Balestra: A fencing term for a forward hop or jump, which is often followed by an attack.

Bloomers: An undergarment formerly worn by women and girls that was composed of loose trousers gathered about the ankles and worn under a short skirt. Popularized in the 1850s by Amelia Bloomer, a feminist who advocated for women’s rights and Victorian dress reform.

Bollocks: British slang for rubbish or nonsense. Considered to be a vulgar term.

British Empire: A former term for the territories controlled by the British Crown. The most extensive empire in the world and, at one time, the foremost global power.

Buffet: To strike or push against repeatedly.

BVDs: A brand of men’s underwear. Stands for “Bradley, Voorhees, and Day.”

Claggy: Sticky or clingy.

Comme il faut: French for “proper.”

Crocodile tears: Insincere tears of grief.

Debo protestar: Spanish for “I must protest.”

Devon cream: A type of clotted cream from Devonshire County, England that is spread on scones.

Die is cast: A permanent decision has been made, or fate has taken charge.

Done ‘n’ dusted: to be successfully completed.

Fall off the wig: To die. Also phrased as “to hop the twig.”

Fop: An extremely vain man.

Fortnum’s: Short for “Fortnum & Mason.” A department store and grocer founded in London in 1707 by one of Queen Anne’s footmen. In 1854, in response to the soldiers’ appalling conditions in the Crimean War, Queen Victoria ordered a huge consignment of beef tea to be sent from Fortnum’s to Florence Nightingale in an effort to boost morale.

Fruitcake: A heavy, spiced cake containing nuts and candied or dried fruits. Fruitcake became popular in Europe and the Americas around the 16th century, when it was discovered that the fruit was preserved longer when soaked in sugar. Often served at English tea time up until the 19th century.

Game’s afoot: The process is in active existence.

Guano: A natural manure, usually composed of the excrement of sea birds and found on the islands of Peru.

Java: The main island of Indonesia where the capital, Jakarta, is located. Kippers ‘n’ custard; A small herring served with custard. At one time a common breakfast.

Nattering: Incessant chatter.

Oh Captain, my Captain: A reference to Walt Whitman’s 1865 poem, “O Captain! My Captain!,” about the death of Abraham Lincoln.

One for all and all for me: A play on “all for one and one for all,” which is best known as the motto for the title characters in Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers.

Orphan: A child who has lost both parents, whether through death or abandonment. High mortality rates – as well as abandonment due to overcrowding or lack of money – during the Victorian era meant that becoming an orphan was not a rarity. Not many orphanages existed at the time, and because they were so terrible, many children preferred to live on the streets.

Pasta fazool: A traditional Italian dish of pasta and beans. Also known as “pasta e fagioli.”

Peer of the realm: A U.K. citizen of high social class who has the right to sit in the House of the Lords.

Philip Glass: A contemporary and influential American composer who has written for stage and film (including his Oscar®-nominated work for The Hours and Notes on a Scandal) in addition to other compositions. His works became the basis for a form of “minimalist” music that consists of repetitive patterns layered on top of each other.

Picaroon: A pirate or other rogue.

Pike: A hill or mountain with a pointed summit, or the pointed end of anything.

Portsmouth: A significant naval port on the south coast of England. Portsmouth has the world’s oldest continuously used dry dock and is home to some noted ships, including HMS Victory, the world’s oldest commissioned warship, which is preserved as a museum ship.

Prat: British slang for an incompetent person.

Préférez-vous que je parle français: French for “Do you prefer that I speak French?”

Qué demonio: Spanish for “what a demon.”

Queen Victoria: Born in 1837, Victoria became queen at 18 years of age because her uncles did not have children who lived long enough to take over the throne. Her 64-year reign – the longest of any British monarch – is known as the Victorian era, and it is remembered as a period of prosperity and peace. She is known for proposing to her husband, Prince Albert, and for starting the tradition of women wearing white at their weddings. Though child labor was common during her reign (many were employed in mines, factories, and as chimney sweeps), she is the most commemorated British monarch.

Salad days: A period of youthful inexperience. Coined in 1606 by Shakespeare in Anthony and Cleopatra, when the latter titular character says, “My salad days, when I was green in judgment…” (I.v.).

Sally Field at the Oscars: A reference to the Oscar®-winning actress’s acceptance speech at the 1985 Academy Awards® in which she repeats “You like me!” Often misquoted as “You like me; you really like me!”

Sally Lunn: A French refugee who worked in a bakery in Bath, England in 1640. Brought with her the French tradition of a brioche bun that was unfamiliar to her English colleagues who, because they couldn’t pronounce her given name (Solange Luyon), christened her “Sally Lunn.” The delicacy she shared was thus named after her as well (the Sally Lunn Bun).

Sleeping Beauty: The bedtime story that Molly tells the boys is the first part of the dark fairy tale adapted by Charles Perrault and popularized by the 1959 Disney animated film. The story in the play takes elements from the Perrault tale, Tchaikovsky’s ballet, and the Brothers Grimm tale.

Sticky Pudding: A British dessert made of a very moist sponge cake with chopped dates and covered in a toffee sauce. Usually served with vanilla ice cream.

Swot: British slang for a student who studies (too) vigorously.

Too posh to push: A prospective mother who elects to have a caesarean section rather than give birth naturally. Such a woman is usually imagined to be of a wealthier, higher class.

TTFN: “Ta ta for now.” Originated in Britain with “It’s that Man Again,” a radio show popular during WWII, which buoyed morale for the U.K. home front.

Union Jack: The national flag of the U.K. since 1801. Combines the three crosses of the patron saints of England (Saint George), Ireland (Saint Patrick), and Scotland (Saint Andrew).

Winkle-pinner: Refers to one who removes meat from a mollusk, or winkle, with a pin.

Your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard: A lyric in the song “Milkshake” by American recording artist Kelis.