Homo Loquens
09-30-2005, 09:32 AM
In the parody of a Theosophist séance in Cyclops (Oxford World's Classics 1998,
1922 text
annotated by Jeri Johnson, p.289) the etheric double of Dignam reports that that
the abodes
of those in the spirt world are "equipped with every modern home comfort such as
talafana,
alavatar, hatakalda [and] wataklasat [...]"
Jeri Johnson explains that "the spelling [is] in imitation of the Theosophists'
predilection for
Sanskrit" and that the "puns are obvious."
Are they?
I can see three possible puns (talafana/telephone, alavatar/elevator,
wataklasat/watercloset),
but am not sure about "hatakalda".
What is "hatakalda" a pun on?
1922 text
annotated by Jeri Johnson, p.289) the etheric double of Dignam reports that that
the abodes
of those in the spirt world are "equipped with every modern home comfort such as
talafana,
alavatar, hatakalda [and] wataklasat [...]"
Jeri Johnson explains that "the spelling [is] in imitation of the Theosophists'
predilection for
Sanskrit" and that the "puns are obvious."
Are they?
I can see three possible puns (talafana/telephone, alavatar/elevator,
wataklasat/watercloset),
but am not sure about "hatakalda".
What is "hatakalda" a pun on?