Heathers the Musical Glossary

Thunder-dome: Steel cage gladiatorial fighting arena from the third installment of the 1985 Post-Apocalyptic franchise Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Teflon: Commonly found in non-stick pans, and as a coating for waterproof objects it is a company brand name that makes polytetrafluoroethylene. It has a very high melting point and is highly resistant to other chemicals.

Boon: A favor.

Swatch-dogs: Reference to the popular Swiss watch brand "Swatch Watch" and can refer to a person obsessed with staying up to date on the latest fashion trends.

Pâté: (Pa-Tay) Meat that is pureed, seasoned, and commonly served cold.

Liverwurst: Type of sasuage made from pig liver.

Prairie Oyster: A drink consisting of Worcestershire sauce, various seasoning, an entire raw egg yolk and hot sauce believed to aid in hangovers.

Aerobics: A form of exercise that was heavily popularized in the 80s through the fad of workout videotapes and often included upbeat pop music to work out to.

Quelle: French term for "what."

San Quentin: Oldest correctional facility in California.

Switch Board: Connected circuits of telephone lines that a telephone operator would connect the calls.

Thermals: Shortening of 'thermobaric' bomb which sucks oxygen from to air to create an explosion that can vaporize humans.

Mirthlessly: Without joy or amusement.

Thunderbird: A type of fruity, fortified wine/alcoholic beverage curated in California with a concerning alcohol content of 17-20 percent that was discontinued in the late 90s.

Squoze: Past tense for squeeze.

Pud-Whacker: Derogatory term for an annoying person.*

Waterworks: A great deal of crying.

Ich Lüge: German phrase for "I lie."

Bonobo Chimpanzees: Not actually a species of chimpanzees, but they are classified as a primate. They are smaller than most chimpanzees and their groups are mostly led by female bonobos and are notable for being able to resolve conflict through peaceful means.

Floor Me: To suprise or shock.

Psychotherapeutic: Form of mental health treatment through verbal communication and interaction with a licensed professional.

Musicology: The study of music.

Bravado: Displaying enormous overconfidence to impress or intimidate.

Brimstone: Sulfur.

Jiffy Pop: Pre-packaged popcorn that can be heated over an open fire or a stove burner.

Baudelaire: 19th Century French Poet most notable for his immensely influential book of poetry, The Flowers of Evil.

Bo Diddely: (1928-2008) Influential American Rock & Roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist that heavily influenced the transition from blues to rock & roll.

Red Dawn: 1984 film directed by John Mulius written by Kevin Reynolds and John Milius starring Patrick Swayze about a group of teens who defend their town aganist Soviet arms.

John Hughes: American film director, writer, and producer in the 1980s and popularized and pioneered the modern American Teen film.

Bono: Lead singer of U2, an Irish rock band.

Jesse James: Notorious and infamous American Confederate guriella fighter, robber, murderer, and overall outlaw.

The Bell Jar: The only novel written by Sylvia Plath was a thinly disguised autobiography that detailed the life of college student Esther Greenwood who longs to be a poet who suffers from a mental breakdown and eventual recovery from that breakdown.

Hands Across America: Fundraising event created by USA for Africa her on May 26th, 1986, 6 million people across a 4,125 mile long 'chain' held hands through 16 states and DC for 15 minutes at 3:00 PM.

John Lennon: Famous Singer-songwriter of the Beatles.

The Breakfast Club: 1985, Directed by John Hughes, coming of age, drama/comedy about 5 high school students the rebel (Judd Nelson), the jock (Emilio Estevez), the nerd (Anthony Michael Hall), the dirtbag (Ally Sheedy) and the princess (Molly Ringwald) all spend Saturday detention together and learn that they are far more nuanced than their 2-dimensional stereotypes.

'Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead!': Song from the film The Wizard of Oz where after Dorothy drops a house on the Wicked Witch of the East, the munchkins celebrate by singing "ding dong! The witch is dead!"

Evita: 1978 rock opera musical with music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice about the life of the young Argentine political leader and actress Eva Peron.

Big Sister: Reference to Big Brother from George Orwell's 1984 where Big Brother is the tyrannical regime in the iconic dystopian novel that monitors every aspect of the lives of their citizens under Big Brother's control.

Judy Garland: Judy Garland was a prominent ally in the LGBTQ community because many people close to her such as Roger Edens, Charles Walters, and George Cukor were all openly queer men as well as Vincente Minnelli and Mark Herron.

Village Person: American disco group with its name referring to the Manhattan Greenwich Village which had a reputation as a Queer neighborhood. The 5 main costumes each member wore (Cop, Indigenous Person, GI/Sailor, Leather Man, Construction Worker, and Cowboy) were often overly macho queer personas.

Bears (LGBTQ+): Slang term for more masculine presenting (often hairier) queer men.

Moby Dick: 1851 novel by Herman Melville inspired by the sinking of the Essex Whale Ship.

Nancy Drew: A series of 175 ghostwritten books under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene is about a young teenage crime-solving girl.

Bonnie & Clyde: Notorious and infamous partners in crime, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met in January 1930 and fell in love. They began their life of crime only 2 years later and were alleged to have been responsible for at least 12 murders and a series of robberies. The couple met their bloody end in 1934 during a standoff with the police where 167 bullet holes were left in the car that Bonnie and Clyde were in when they died.