Raising Nancy by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

{1} S.O.E. : Special Operations Executive. The British secret organization charged in World War 2 to conduct espionage and acts of sabotage inside Occupied Europe.  The S.O.E. often used female agents as radio operators and couriers.

{2} VFR: Visual Flight Rules.

{3} Qanun: Sort of board-like string instrument resembling a zither, typically 95-100 centimeters in length and 38-40 centimeters, with up to 24 strings.

{4} Barbat: Short-necked, pear-shaped Persian Lute.

{5} Tombak: Persian goblet drum.

{6} VTOL: Vertical Takeoff and Landing.

{7} VFR: Visual Flight Rules.  A flying condition when the use of instruments is not necessary to fly safely an aircraft.  In contrast, flying at night or in bad weather calls for IFR conditions, or Instruments Flight Rules.

{8} Ku-Klux-Klan, or KKK: Old and powerful racist organisation in the U.S.A. which promotes the supremacy of the Caucasian race and encourages racial discrimination against non-whites.

{9} 285 miles per hour : Equals 456 kilometers per hour.

{10} Air Force One: Designation given to any aircraft transporting the President of the United States, and this while he is aboard.

{11} Parthian Shot: Ancient mounted archery technique developed by Caucasus riders, in which a galloping mounted archer would twist his torso around while staying in the saddle and fire an arrow towards a pursuing enemy.  

{12} Doosie: Popular American expression and short for ‘Duesenberg’, a past brand of luxury car.  Meant to mean that something is truly standing out or exceptional.

{13} IRS: Internal Revenue Service.  The American federal department in charge of collecting taxes and investigating tax frauds.

{14} Great Patriotic War: Name used by Russian citizens to designate World War Two.

{15} Starchina : Soviet senior NCO rank equivalent to that of a warrant officer.

{16} Ay, coño!  The Latino equivalent of saying ‘Oh shit!’

{17} FAA: Federal Aviation Administration.  The federal agency charged with administering civilian and commercial aviation in the United States.

{18} ICBM: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

{19} CNO: Chief of Naval Operations.  The title given to the commander of the United States Navy.

{20} Oblast: Administrative regional unit of the Soviet Union and Russia.