Read Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated Online
Authors: Robin Furth
KI’BOX:
See entry in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
KI’COME:
See entry in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
KI’-DAM:
See entry in
END-WORLD TERMS
KING’S EVIL:
See
FALLING SICKNESS
,
above
KINKMAN:
The kinkman is the showman who stands outside a carnival tent and tries to entice people in. W:58
KISSIN DON’T LAST; COOKIN DO:
So say the Manni-folk. W:150
KISSING MOON:
The full moon of FULL EARTH is known as the Kissing Moon. In
Wizard and Glass,
Roland meets Susan Delgado under this perfect disk of silver.
See also
MID-WORLD MOONS
,
located at the beginning of this
Concordance. IV:115
KNUCKLES (GOLD KNUCKLES, SILVER KNUCKLES, GOLD KNUCKS):
Used as money in the Mid-World of Roland’s youth. W:44
**KUVIAN NIGHT-SOLDIER:
It seems likely that the Kuvian night-soldiers were a band of assassins. This term does not appear in the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger.
I:200
LADY OF THE PLATE:
See entry in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
LADY-
SAI
:
A formal term of address for a woman. W:49
LAND-PIRATES:
Mid-World’s roving bands of harriers gave themselves this name. Farson was essentially a land-pirate with pretensions. W:40
LAST TIMES:
This is Sylvia Pittston’s term for the End of the World. I:50
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION:
This phrase is another one of the raven Zoltan’s sayings. In our world, it can be found in the Lord’s Prayer. I:20
LEMON JUICE WON’T TAKE THE STAIN OUT OF A LADY’S REPUTATION:
It’s not easy to lose a bad rep. IV:143
LET BE WHAT WILL BE, AND HUSH, AND LET KA WORK:
Roland learned this saying from his mother, Gabrielle Deschain. VII:729
LET EVIL WAIT FOR THE DAY ON WHICH IT MUST FALL:
This saying comes from Gilead. It means that you shouldn’t borrow trouble from the future since it will arrive soon enough. V:162
**LET’S SHAKE A MILE:
Let’s get moving.
LET YOUR SHADOW GROW. LET IT GROW HAIR ON ITS FACE. LET IT BECOME DARK:
Wait until you’re older. I:172
LIFE FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR CROP:
A Mid-World greeting. V:72
LIFE FOR YOUR CROP:
This is a Mid-World greeting. Roland uses it when he meets Brown, the Border Dweller. I:15
LIFE IS A WHEEL AND WE ALL SAY THANKYA:
Life, like KA, is a wheel. We seem to move forward, but in the end we find ourselves back just where we began. VII:4
LINEOUT:
This is Roland’s word for an outline. VI:285
LINIMENT AND STINKUM:
The Jefferson Ranch’s deserted tack shed contained dust-covered jugs of liniment and stinkum. W:77
LOAD (THE LOAD):
See entry in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
LOG OF EASE:
The log which campers sit on to dump the proverbial dinner. I suppose some people find it easier than squatting to poop. VII:635
LONG AGO (THE LONG AGO):
The time before the world moved on. VII:9, VII:161, VII:178
LONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS:
A Mid-World greeting. The proper response is “May you have twice the number.” In Calla Bryn Sturgis, this greeting is accompanied by three taps to the throat. IV:197, V:3, VI:149
LONGSTICK:
Steven Deschain stated that the women of Serenity preferred a longstick to a man. In other words, they would rather take pleasure from a fake phallus than lie with a man. W:38
LOOK NOT LONG AT WHAT’S OFFERED, FOR EVERY PRECIOUS THING HAS WINGS AND MAY FLY AWAY:
This saying comes from the West’rds. In other words, take an opportunity when it appears—it may soon be gone. W:118
LOOKS:
See
THREE LOOKS TO THE HORIZON
,
below
LORD PERTH:
Mid-World’s story of Lord Perth bears a strong resemblance to our biblical tale of David and Goliath.
See also
MID-WORLD FOLKLORE
,
in
CHARACTERS. V:39
LOS ÁNGELES:
This Mejis term describes fat, white, fair-weather clouds. VII:455, VII:477
LOUTKIN:
A lout; an ill-mannered person. VI:180
LOVE STUMBLES:
This is Roland’s mother’s phrase. It is roughly equivalent to our saying “love is blind.” V:77
LOW PURE:
The foothill meadows below the salt-houses in Debaria. W:57
MACROVERSE:
A term often used in Stephen King’s fiction for all the known worlds that spin about the Tower. I use it frequently in this
Concordance,
even though Stephen King doesn’t use it in the Dark Tower series.
See also
MULTIVERSE
MADAME DEATH:
Lady Death. In decks of cards, she is often represented by the Queen of Spades. VI:18
MAGDA-SEEN (MAGDA-SEENS):
This is Roland’s misinterpretation of the word
magazine,
and it doesn’t make any sense to him. He can’t figure out what Magda must have seen. II:61, V:677, VII:494
MAGIC TALES OF THE ELD:
When Roland was a child, this was his favorite book. It contained the story entitled “The Wind Through the Keyhole.” W:14
MAKE HASTE:
See
MID-WORLD GESTUES
MAKE WATER (TO MAKE WATER):
To urinate. V:86
MALHABLADA:
This is a Spanish word which means “woman who speaks badly,” or, in the case of Susan Delgado, a woman who uses bad words. IV:237
MANDRUS:
Mandrus’s common name is “whore’s blossoms.” It is a venereal disease (endemic in cities such as Lud) that appears to have quite a lot in common with syphilis. The oozing sores apparent in the later stages of the disease are particularly horrific. III:297
MANTO:
In Hambry, a manto is a cloak. In other places, it is a slang term for a homosexual. Kimba Rimer once jokingly called Clay Reynolds
“sai
Manto,” referring to his cloak, but Reynolds later murdered him for doing so. IV:471
**MANY AND MANY-A:
A long time ago. V:131, V:328
MARMAR:
Mother. W:103
MARRY IN HASTE, REPENT AT LEISURE:
This is another saying used by the old folks in the Endless Forest. If you marry too quickly you may regret it. W:162
MAY IT SERVE THEM VERY WELL:
May it make them healthy, or may it make them prosper. V:74
MAY THE SUN NEVER FALL IN YOUR EYES:
Good luck to you. V:402
MAY WE BE WELL-MET ON THE PATH:
See
WELL-MET
,
below
MAY WE MEET IN THE CLEARING AT THE END OF THE PATH WHEN ALL WORLDS END:
May we meet after death. May we meet again in the next world. VII:801
MAY YOU DO WELL:
May you prosper. VI:182
MAY YOU HAVE TWICE THE NUMBER:
See
LONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS
,
above
MAY YOUR BEAUTY EVER INCREASE/AND MAY YOUR FIRST DAY IN HELL LAST TEN THOUSAND YEARS, AND MAY IT BE THE SHORTEST:
This testy interchange is part of the story of Lady ORIZA and her suitor/enemy Gray Dick.
See
ORIZA, LADY
,
in
CHARACTERS
MAY YOUR DAYS BE LONG UPON THE EARTH:
A Mid-World greeting. The proper reply to this is “And may you have twice the number.” V:123
MAY YOUR FIRST DAY IN HELL LAST TEN THOUSAND YEARS:
See
MAY YOUR BEAUTY EVER INCREASE
,
above
MAYHAP:
Perhaps. V:328, W:29
MAYHAP SOME OF THE OLD WAYS STILL HOLD:
Perhaps some of the old ways have survived. V:126
MEGRIMS:
Fears. Fantasies. As Susan walks to Rhea’s hut for the first time, she sings to keep “the worst of her megrims away.” IV:123
MERRY SEE, MERRY BE:
See
HILE AND MERRY-GREET-THE-DAY
,
above
MESCALINE:
We have this in our world too. Cort called mescaline the Philosopher’s Stone and maintained that the old gods pissed over the desert and made this hallucinogen. The use of drugs (usually to communicate with speaking demons) was part of a gunslinger’s training.
See
APPENDIX IV: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. I:124–25, I:127
METALED/METAL:
A metaled road is a paved road. III:287, V:291
MICKLE (USELESS MICKLE):
Useless junk. W:163
MID-SUMMER:
The season of Mid-Summer marks the hottest part of the year. Mid-Summer was also one of Gilead’s FAIR-DAYS.
See
APPENDIX IV: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. V:2
MIM:
See entry in
HIGH SPEECH
MIND (TO MIND):
To watch out for something, as in “mind the step.” W:16
MIND-SPEAR:
A mind-spear is a focused thought which can kill the person at whom it is aimed. The BREAKER Ted Brautigan is especially good at throwing mind-spears. VII:278, VII:376
MOIT:
A group of five or six. It is also part of an expression: “Surely you’ve got a moit more guts than that.” V:237, V:358, VII:808
(expression)
MOITY’MORE:
Many more. W:268
MOLLIES:
Unsterilized female mules, usually kept for their good tempers rather than for breeding. Such creatures rarely give birth to true-threaded offspring. W:145
MORE THAN ONCE-UPON-A:
More than once. V:367
MORTATA:
See entry in
CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
MOTHER-ROOT:
Umbilical cord. III:175
MOZO:
Spanish for porter. Used in Hambry for male servants. IV:278
MOUTH’S HUNG IN THE MIDDLE AND RUNS AT BOTH ENDS (MY MOUTH’S HUNG IN THE MIDDLE AND RUNS AT BOTH ENDS):
I talk too much, or I say things I shouldn’t. W:122
MUCH TALK IS JUST LA-LA-LA:
Much talk is just nonsense. W:42
MUFFIN-BALLS:
Although they look like mushrooms, muffin-balls are actually a kind of edible ground berry. V:42
MULTIPLE AMERICAS:
Although the Tower contains only one Keystone Earth and that Keystone Earth contains only one North America and one United States, other levels of the Tower also contain alternate Americas, or alternate versions of North America and of the United States. These alternative Americas are subtly different from ours. (For example, in some of those other Americas people drive Takuro Spirits and drink Nozz-A-La cola.) When I refer to the many Americas, including the one found on Keystone Earth, I use the term
Multiple Americas. See also entry in
OUR WORLD PLACES
MULTIVERSE:
A term I often use in this
Concordance
when I am referring to the many worlds which spin around the Dark Tower.
MUMBLETY-PEG:
A game in which players throw or flip a jackknife in various ways so that the knife sticks in the ground. We play this game in our world too. V:227
MUSICA:
In Calla Bryn Sturgis, a musica is a bandstand on a town green. In other parts of Mid-World, a wandering musica is a wandering musician. V:210, VII:51
MUTIE:
A mutant. Mutants are common in Mid-World.
See
MUTANTS
,
in
CHARACTERS
MY LIFE FOR YOU:
Richard Fannin makes Tick-Tock repeat this sinister saying. III:389
MY TONGUE TANGLES WORSE THAN A DRUNK’S ON REAP-NIGHT:
Roland’s way of saying that he isn’t good with words. V:216
NAR:
NO. W:63
NASTY LOT OF WORK (THEY WERE A NASTY LOT OF WORK)
; They were a nasty bunch of men/women. W:56
NAUGHT BE ZERO, NAUGHT BE FREE, I OWE NOT YOU, NOR YOU OWE ME:
Nothing has been decided yet, and no one owes anyone else anything, at least as yet. V:110
NAWP:
No. W:103
NECK-POPPED:
Hanged. I:105–6
NE’MINE:
Never mind. VI:50
NEN:
A drink used by the Covenant Man to make Tim Ross feel like an icy visitor inside his own head. Nen isn’t alcoholic but it must have some drug-like properties. W:161
NEVER IN LIFE:
Not on your life. V:403
NEVER MIND SPLITTING NAILS TO MAKE TACKS:
Don’t split hairs. The gist of whatever is being said is correct. V:167
NEVER SAY SO. FOR ’TIS BLASPHEMY:
Never say so, since it is a sin against God. W:52
NEVER SPEAK THE WORST ALOUD:
This was one of Cort’s sayings. Don’t speak your worst fears. VII:589
**NEW EARTH:
New Earth is the spring plowing season. Mother Nature is just waking from her long sleep.
See also
APPENDIX IV
: MID-WORLD MISCELLANY. V:3
NINETEEN:
Nineteen is the number which haunts our KA-TET throughout the last three books of the Dark Tower series.
See
NINETEEN
,
NINETY-NINE
,
and
NINETEEN NINETY-NINE
,
all in
CHARACTERS
NIS:
Nis is another name for Na’ar, or Hell. W:61
NO FRET:
Don’t worry. W:65
**NO ONE EVER REALLY PAYS FOR BETRAYAL IN SILVER; THE PRICE OF ANY BETRAYAL ALWAYS COMES DUE IN FLESH:
The cost of betrayal is dear.
NO QUARTER:
See
WE WILL ACCEPT NO QUARTER
,
below