Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, page 24
Spade, Sam: Sardonic detective conjured up by Dashiell Hammett, played by Humphrey Bogart.
Spellbound (1945): Alfred Hitchcock mystery, with help from Salvador Dalí to portray delusion.
Spitfire: WW2 British single-seated fighter plane pivotal in the Battle of Britain.
Steiger, Rod: Acted in noir films such as The Harder They Fall; starred in The Illustrated Man.
Stetson: Iconic hat worn by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep.
Stiftgasse, 15: Address of Harry Lime’s apartment in The Third Man.
Sturges, John: Directed The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape.
Summer, Donna: Famous for disco hits ‘I Feel Love’ and ‘Love to Love You Baby’.
Sutter Street: Location of Sam Spade’s office in The Maltese Falcon.
Suzuki, Seijun: Japanese director with penchant for the surreal, with odd lighting and set designs.
That Certain Feeling (1956): Comedy starring Bob Hope, Eva Marie Saint & George Sanders.
Thing from Another World, The (1951): Sci-fi horror set in an Arctic base.
Third Man, The (1949): Black market intrigue & murder set in post-WW2 Vienna.
Throbbing Gristle: 1970s-born British industrial performance art group.
THX 1138 (1971): Chilling, George Lucas-directed examination of a future society.
Time Tunnel: Irwin Allen TV series during the 1960s featuring time traveling scientists.
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor: Organ piece composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Tokyo Drifter: Surreal 1966 yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki about a man waiting to die.
Tomino, Yoshiyuki: Creator of giant robot mecha franchise Gundam.
Top Hat: 1935 comedy/musical starring Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.
Travers, Jerry: Dancer played by Fred Astaire in Top Hat.
Twilight Zone, The: 1959-64 anthology TV show, always with an unexpected final twist.
Van Cleef, Lee: Starred in spaghetti westerns such as The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
Vangelis: Composed soundtracks for Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire.
Von Sydow, Max: Swedish actor in Ingmar Bergman movies such as The Seventh Seal.
Watson, Doctor: Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, played either as bumbling or brilliant.
Wayne, John: Hollywood cowboy; starred in Fort Apache and Rio Bravo.
Webley-Fosbery: British automatic revolver produced by Webley and Scott 1901-15.
Weller, Peter: Starred in cult-fave movies RoboCop, Naked Lunch and Screamers.
Welles, Orson: The man behind Citizen Kane, also played Harry Lime in The Third Man.
Williams, John: Created scores for the Jaws, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones film franchises.
Wills, William John: Leader of 1861 expedition crossing Australia in which most perished.
Windsor Hotel: Australia’s surviving grand 19th century Victorian era hotel.
Yoda: Diminutive Star Wars sage with tendency to turn sentence structure on its head.
You Only Live Twice (1967): Starring Sean Connery as James Bond. Set in Japan.
Tobacco-Stained Glossary
All that noir slang, British English, Australian colloquialisms, Japanese, French, random Floydisms & other post-apocalyptic jargon in a nutshell
Aces: Wonderful, perfect
Air out: Shoot someone
All over the shop: Busy, distracted
Amphitryon: Illegal stimulant
Anime: A genre of animated film
Ashita: Tomorrow
Bar of it: Any of it
Beer-killer: One who treats beer without respect or knocks over a glass
Behind the eight ball: In trouble
Big noter: Braggart
Biro: A pen
Blighter: A person held in low esteem
Bloke: A man, sometimes a friend, ‘guy’
Blokey: Macho
Bloody: A modifier used to add emphasis
Bludger: Lazy person
Boiler: A car
Bollocks: Expletive for ‘nonsense’
Bon Odori: Traditional dances during the annual Obon festivals in Japan
Bouffant: Hairstyle, usually puffy
Brill: Abbreviation of brilliant
Brolly: An umbrella
Bugger: Catch-all phrase for a person, as in “lucky bugger” or “silly bugger”
Bunny: Stupid person
Burner: A burnt out, addled person
C’arn: Sports chant, literally “come on!”
C’est moi: ‘It’s me’ or ‘It’s I’
Cab sav: Cabernet sauvignon
Cabernet sauvignon: Type of red wine
Cack: A laugh, a fun time
Canary: Victim, fall-guy or loser
Card-thrower: Poor loser, throwing cards into the air
Caught on the hop: Caught red handed
Chappies: People
Cheaters: Sunglasses
Chipper up: Get happy, or try to persevere
Chock-a-block: Crammed full
Chuffed: Happy and content, often used sarcastically
Clodualdo: Illegal depressant
Close up shop: Become defensive
Close your head: Shut up
Cock and bull: A lie or fabrication
Concrete kimono: Play on the gangster custom of putting a corpse in a barrel filled with cement
Cop shop: Police station
CQB: Close Quarters Battle tactics
Crack foxy: Make smart-arse remarks
Crate: A car
Crock: Rubbish or lies
Crop, the: The whole story
Cuppa: Cup of tea
Cut-up: Upset and/or anxious
Daylight, filled with: Gunned down
Dead ringer: Exact match, a look alike
Deck: Pack of cigarettes
Deep fry: Brain death
Demaratus: Medication for depression
Dim sims: Chinese-style meat dumplings
Disperazione: Spanish for ‘despair’
Divvy van: Police transport for criminals
Doona: Bed comforter/quilt
Dosh: Cash
Doss-house: Cheap lodging
Dreads: Matted coils of hair, dreadlocks
Dress down: Reprimand
Drill: To shoot
Droogie: Derivative of ‘droog’, a term for friend in A Clockwork Orange
Drop: A drink, usually alcoholic
Dropping: Taking drugs/medication
Duffer: Idiot
Eggs in the coffee: Easy, piece of cake
El blando: Bland, boring
Entrée: In British English, the appetizer before the main course in a restaurant
Fake-and-bake: Artificial
Femme fatale: Seductive woman
Film noir: Genre of hardboiled crime drama, often black-and-white, common in the 1940s and ‘50s.
Flatfoot: Police officer walking the beat
Foie de baudroie à crème fraiche: Monkfish liver with soured cream sauce
Fossil: An elderly person
Frail: A girl or woman
Fuyu: Winter
Gasper: A cigarette
Geezer: Eccentric old man
Genotypic: The basic genetic make up of a cell, organism, or individual
Ghost gum: A type of eucalyptus tree
Gin mill: Bar
Glad-bag: Cheap or inferior
Glory box: A chest of items kept by women in preparation for marriage
Gob: Mouth
Go on the lam: Run away, escape
Got one’s goat: Irritated or annoyed
Gowed up: High on drugs
Graf: Abbreviation of graffiti
Grouse: Old expression for excellent now used jokingly or sarcastically
Gum tree: Generic term for various kinds of eucalyptus tree
Gumshoe: Private detective
Hajimemashite: “I am pleased to make your acquaintance”
Happy snap: Photograph
Heater: A gun
Hentai: Abnormal, sexually perverted
Hinky: Suspicious or unreliable
Hiragana: A syllabary, component of the Japanese writing system
Hoovering: Vacuuming
Horse feathers: Rubbish, nonsense
IdInteract: Virtual reality based portable gaming console
Iwatsuki doll: Iconic Japanese doll
Jane Public: The common woman
Java: Coffee
Jig: Job or special performance
Jingle-brained: Seeing stars, usually after a blow to the head
Joe: Coffee
Joe Bloggs: The common man
Joe Bravura: to act tough, as in “play it Joe Bravura”
John Hancock: Signature
Kampai: Literally means “dry cup”, best translated as “cheers”
Kanji: Chinese characters used in the modern Japanese writing system
Kaput: Finished, or closed subject
Katakana: A syllabary, component of the Japanese writing system
Kawaii: Cute, charming
Kibou: Hope
Kimono: Japanese robe with wide sleeves
Knotty: Difficult to understand
Knuckle-down: Coerce
Kohl: Cosmetic used to darken eyes
Konnichiwa: Hello or good afternoon
Koto: Japanese stringed instrument
Larrikin: A person who mocks authority
Lead on, McDuff: Misquote of Macbeth (“Lay on, Macduff”), meaning ‘let’s go’
Limey: British
Loo: A toilet
Maiko: An apprentice geisha
Mañana: Tomorrow
Mind one’s own store: Keep to oneself.
Mitt: Hand
Mitt-Mate 1187 hand PC: Hand-held computer and communications device
Mush: Face
Musophobia: Fear of mice or rats
Nana korobi ya oki: “Fall seven times, rise eight times”, a call for perseverence
Nanakusa: Seven herbs traditionally eaten on the seventh day of the new year
Natter: Talk or chatter
Noir: Literally, ‘black’, also used to mean the fatalistic or cynical film noir genre
Nuddy, in the: Nude
Nut out: Work out, solve
Obi: A sash used with a kimono
Objet d’art: ‘Object of art’, sometimes used sarcastically
Obon: Annual Japanese Buddhist event commemorating one’s ancestors
Oi: Hey
Okaeri: Welcome home
Oreamnos americanus : Genus of mountain goats
Ozeki One Cup: A sealed serving of sake
Pachinko: Gambling machines that utilize small metal balls
Pâté de canard: Duck meat paste
Payless: Cheap or discounted, budget
Pearler: Unbelievable, surprising
Perp: Perpetrator, or, a suspect
Piss oneself: Laugh hysterically, or urinate in uncontrolled fashion
Pissed-up: Drunk
Plasti-: Slang that denotes plastic products manufactured by Hylax
Plasti-blister: Plastic blister-sheet that holds up to twelve medicinal pills
Pol: Abbreviation of politician
Poofter: Derogatory slang for a homosexual, used to insult anybody
Private Idaho: Personal idea of paradise
PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a debillitating anxiety caused by shock.
Put me wise: Enlighten me
Put oneself in solid: Gain respect
Ramen: noodle soup originated in China
Rammed: Over-crowded
Ring-in: Copy or replacement
Ringer (dead ringer): Look-alike
Ringer: Bell or phone
Rip Snorting: Great, fantastic
Rort: A lie or con/scam
Rumble: Fuss
Rumpy pumpy: Sex, hanky panky
Run riot: Go crazy
Sap: A loser or a stupid person
Sasso-Superplus: Medication taken for depression
Scarper: Leave, escape
Scrag: A woman of ill repute
Shamisen: Japanese stringed instrument
Shichifukujin: Seven gods of good luck
Shiv: Knife
Shōchū: Alcoholic beverage made from sweet potatoes, barley or rice
Shoji: Sliding panel of rice paper used as door or partitition
Shooter: Gun
Shout oneself: Help oneself to something, or purchase something
Show pony: A show off
Sing: Confess
Skate around: Avoid telling the truth
Skipper: General term for someone, sometimes reserved for a team leader
Skirt: Woman
Slant, Get a: Take a look
Slipped the noose: Escaped
Slug: A shot of alcohol
Snake oil: Fake or exceedingly poor quality alcohol or medicine
Snaps: Photographs
Snort (snort of gin): A drink
Snowed up: High on drugs/medication
Sod it all: Fuck it all, said in exasperation
Sod: A loser, but often used affectionately as in “lucky sod”
Soft toy: Stuffed animal
Solid and hearty: Fine, healthy
Sosho-style: Fairly modern, cursive Kanji style with smoothly flowing lines
Stat: Immediately
Swinging: Hanging out with somebody
Ta: Thanks
Tacker (wee tacker): Small child, mostly used in jest
Taiko: Japanese drums
Taking the piss: Mocking someone
Tall poppies: Successful people
Tank oneself, get tanked: Get drunk
Tatami: Traditional rice straw flooring
Tip one’s mitt: Reveal one’s intentions
Tipple: A drink
Todaima: Basically, “I’m home”
Tooting the wrong ringer: Asking the wrong person
Top oneself off: To commit suicide
Tosser: A loser
Tot up: To count up or calculate
Tucker: Food
Tuck Shop: Store with food, candy, more
Tug on: To put on, especially clothes
Tuxedos: Men
Twee: Unimportant or pathetic
Twig: Realize
Twist: Girl or woman
Up on one’s hind legs: To get angry or defensive
Vegemite: Dark brown salty paste made from yeast extract, used as a spread
Wanker: Loser, an annoying person
Washi: A type of paper made by hand
Wax bogus: To lie
Weak sister: A pushover
Whinging: Complaining
White-wash: To win all the games in a sports competition series
Whoop up: Enjoy, perhaps too much
Wicket: Refers to batsmen dismissed in the game of cricket
Widerstand leisten: German, for which a loose translation is ‘resist’
Woop woop: Someplace far away
Wound up in knots: Stressed out
Wrong number: Someone to avoid
Xenathon: Dieting medication
Yagura: Tall wooden tower used as the centrepiece at Bon Odori festivals
Yakuza: Japanese crime syndicate
Yukata: Lighter-material kimono
Zamperini: Pain relief medication
Zither: Stringed instrument used for the theme music of The Third Man
Zuzushi: Shameless or impudent
Post-Floydian Adventures
By now you’ve read Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and are probably aware that it was inspired by, and is in parts homage to, film noir and hardboiled literature of the twentieth century. While the novel can be enjoyed without specific knowledge of these works, we feel that being familiar with them will increase your appreciation of it. And besides, the following selections are masterpieces well worth viewing or reading in their own right. We’ve also listed a few non-noir films that make their mark on Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat.
Primary Cinematic Inspirations
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Third Man (1949)
The Thin Man (1934)
Other Recommended Films
The Big Sleep (1946)
That Certain Feeling (1956)
Odd Man Out (1947)
Blade Runner (1982)
Top Hat (1935)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Brazil (1985)
Bullitt (1968)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Goldfinger (1964)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Recommended Reading
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Third Man by Graham Greene
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Acknowledgments
This book would never have surfaced without the support and inspiration of three vital girls in my life: Fee (my mum), Yoko (my wife), and Cocoa (my daughter). Quite simply? Thank you.
And TSMG most certainly wouldn’t have been finished off in the half-tidy, reader-friendly version that now rests in your hands (or on your screen) if not for the intervention, tweaking, reinvention, and chainsawing prowess of my editor/mentor Kristopher Young to whom I’m eternally indebted—it’s been an odyssey, and I’m somewhat sad to see that multi-year journey of camaraderie and disputation reach an end. Further debt is owed to Bob Young, who served as our copy editor, font of noir wisdom, and official idea foil—always making sure we crossed our i’s and dotted our t’s.
Big cheers to Scott Campbell for the superb cover art and illustrations which capture the spirit of this (mis)adventure, and to Yasuko Sekine for the nifty kanji calligraphy that’s littered throughout.
Hats off to Christine, Jesse, Justin, and everybody else at Another Sky Press who’ve all been unbelievably supportive while other hefty nods go to my dad Des, Yoshiko, the ETM crew, Bri, Trish, Karin, Marce, Michael, Solly, Paul, and my guzzling chums Tim, Brian, and Devin—along with the IF? Records crew. And a wink at my nan June, who raised my early spirits with her exaggerated, stage-friendly readings of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
