by Bev Vincent
FUZER (4)
Basement storage area. Roland got his guns from the fuzer beneath their barracks.
GILLY (JILLY) (4, 4.5, 5)
Consort or concubine, often meant to bear a child when a leader’s wife cannot. Prostitutes sometimes call themselves cotton gillies. Arthur Eld was said to have many, and Roland’s lineage may come from one of those liaisons.
GLAMMER OR GLAM (1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
Enchantment. According to Henchick, magic and glammer are the same and they unroll from the past.
GOOK (4.5)
A deep well.
GORMLESS (4.5)
Stupid or careless.
Graf (3, 4, 4.5, 5, 7)
Hard apple cider.
GREAT ALL (1)
The universe.
GREENSTICKING (5)
Putting pressure on someone. Twisting his arm.
GRENADO (3, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
A hand grenade made by the Great Old Ones.
GUNNA (1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
Gear. Belongings. Possessions. The sum total of a person’s worldly goods.
HILE (4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)
A word of greeting or a call to action. One of the few words that is the same in both low speech and High Speech. The Manni call it “Fin-Gan,” the first word, the one that set the world spinning. “Hile! To me! No prisoners!” is a battle cry Roland knew of old.
HOBS (7)
Hobgoblins or St. Elmo’s fire. Orange swirling lights.
HOT-ENJ (7)
Atomic locomotive.
HOUKEN (7)
A word Roland uses regarding Oy. Its exact meaning is unclear.
HUME (7)
A derogatory word for humans, used by taheen.
I CRY YOUR PARDON (1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
A formal way of apologizing—usually followed by “I have forgotten the face of my father.”
I DO NOT AIM WITH MY HAND (3, 5, M)
The gunslinger’s catechism:
I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.
I HAVE FORGOTTEN THE FACE OF MY FATHER (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
The Act of Contrition. Apprentice gunslingers are forced to say this when they haven’t performed up to standards.
JAKES (4, 4.5, 7)
Outhouse, toilet or bathroom.
JILLY
See Gilly.
JING-JANG (4.5)
Telephone. There’s one in the high sheriff’s office in Debaria, though at the time it goes only to a few neighboring towns.
JIPPA (4.5)
Someone who has lost his mind. A word used by the people of Tree Village.
KA (THROUGHOUT)
One of the most difficult concepts in the Dark Tower series. It has several meanings, mostly to do with destiny, purpose or fate. Some believe it is the will of Gan, which must be obeyed. Ka creates a duty in people. It is the last thing a person has to rise above and it marks the time of every man and woman.
However, it also has a sense of inevitability. One rule is that a person needs to stand aside and let ka work, which implies that ka will have its way regardless. If a person isn’t sure what to do, do nothing and let ka work itself out. Don’t worry about the future, in other words. If it is ka’s will, anything is possible. Roland often adopts this philosophy, ignoring certain problems (the distant Emerald City, for example) until they are underfoot.
When people go against ka, ka stands to one side and laughs. Roland believes that if he tries to veer from its path (by going around Lud instead of through it), ka will find ways to force him back on course. He has seen people change ka, though there is always a price to pay when that happens. Its power is compared to the strong winds of a starkblast or the momentum of a hurtling mono—maybe sane, maybe not. But not irresistible.
Ka is a convenient scapegoat when things go wrong. People invoke it so they don’t have to take the blame for their own stupidity. Lucky people also claim they were doing the work of ka. Susannah marvels at how everyone seems to think they know just what ka intends for them.
People think of ka as a heartless, mindless power that does and takes what it wants, regardless of human concerns. Stephen King vacillates between claiming that he creates ka and that ka is channeled through him. He is ka’s translator and conduit. At first he says he made Roland do certain things, but later recants, admitting that Roland’s actions sometimes scared him.
Once Roland has completed his ka-given duty by saving the Beams and ensuring the survival of the Tower, Tet Corporation believes he is going beyond ka by continuing to the Dark Tower. Reaching the Tower and climbing to the top is something Roland feels he has been promised—but was it promised by ka or did he simply promise it to himself? He risks becoming anti-ka. If the Crimson King captures him and uses his guns to reenter the Dark Tower, everything he has accomplished will be lost.
KA-BABBIES (1)
Friends since childhood.
KA-DADDY (6, 7)
A term that means boss, but which is seldom used in a flattering sense.
KA-DINH (7)
The leader of a ka-tet.
KA-ESSEN (4.5)
Life spirit. The ka-essen of a person who dies goes on to the clearing at the end of the path.
KA-HUME (7)
Presumably means people who are part of a ka-tet or guided by ka.
KA-MAI (4, 4.5, 6, 7, M)
Ka’s fool. Roland often applies the term to Cuthbert and Eddie. Tim Stoutheart’s mother calls herself ka-mai after she falls victim to Bern Kells. After hearing Mia’s story, Susannah comes up with this definition of the word: one who has been given hope but no choices. Ka-mais are often safe from harm until ka tires of their antics and swats them out of the world.
KA-MATE (4.5, 5, 6, 7)
Fellow member of a ka-tet.
KA-ME (5)
The opposite of ka-mai: behaving wisely instead of foolishly.
KA-SHUME (7)
A rue-laden term that is used when someone senses an approaching break in one’s ka-tet. Even though one can sense impending death, it doesn’t always happen. See also shume.
KA-TEL (4)
A class of fellow gunslingers in training. Roland’s group consisted of fourteen boys.
KA-TET (1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)
One from many. A group of people (“tet”) bound together for a common purpose, who have the same interests and goals. Lives joined by fate. Once formed, its members feel greater than they were before. Each member of a ka-tet is like a piece of a puzzle. Put together, they complete a picture. Ka-tet is family. Ka-tet is love. Whenever a ka-tet stops to rest, they unconsciously form a circle. Their purpose need not serve the White—the Little Sisters of Eluria claim to be ka-tet. Sharing khef is part of what being ka-tet means.
Some believe that a ka-tet can be broken only by death or treachery. Cort believed that a ka-tet could never be broken, even when the group is split. The word “ka-shume” indicates the feeling of an impending break of a ka-tet. When ka-tet breaks, the end always comes quickly.
KAI-MAI (5)
A friend of ka. Walter applies the word to Callahan. Not to be confused with ka-mai.
KAMMEN (5, 6, 7)
The chimes people hear when they go todash or when their todash journey is about to end. Also known as todash bells. The notes sound beautiful at first, but soon become so hideous and painful that each chime seems to make a person’s head burst and his bones vibrate. They also sound when Black Thirteen is awake. The Manni name for the Doorway Cave is Kra Kammen, which means House of Ghosts.
KAS-KA GAN (7)
The prophets or singers of Gan. Artists who translate the word of Gan into the
ir art.
KAVEN (6)
The persistence of magic, an important concept for the Manni.
KEN/KENNIT (1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)
To know, as in “Do you kennit?”
KES (7)
The strength of a Beam.
KHEF (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Life force. The word means many things in the original tongue of the Old World: water, birth and life force are a few of them. Roland uses it to mean a closeness and sharing of thoughts among members of a ka-tet. Minds consulting via something so elemental it couldn’t rightly be called telepathy. “Sharing khef,” also known as the sharing of water, is a kind of palaver and storytelling, and is part of what ka-tet means. Khef can be shared only by those whom destiny has welded together, for good or for ill. Before the battle at Algul Siento, Roland turns this into a communion-like ritual.
KHEF-MATE (3)
A term Eddie uses in reference to Roland. As such, it may not have any true meaning.
KI’BOX (5, 7)
Asshole (shitbox). A metaphor for a person’s baser functions.
KI’CAN (7)
Shit-people.
KI’COME (7)
Bullshit. Utter nonsense.
KI’-DAM (7)
Shit for brains.
KILLIN (5)
An undefined insult. “Ye foolish killin.”
KRA (5, 6, M)
A Manni’s cabin. Also his circle of friends.
KRA-TEN (6, M)
A Manni village or community.
LET EVIL WAIT FOR THE DAY ON WHICH IT MUST FALL (5)
A Gilead saying.
LIFE FOR YOUR CROPS (1, 4, 6)
Usually said after spitting on the ground.
LIMBIT (4.5)
A unit of temperature.
LONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS (1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
A traditional greeting. According to Roland, it is associated more with Gilead than with rural communities. The traditional answer is, “And may you have twice the number.”
LOOKS TO THE HORIZON (6)
A unit of distance equal to about thirty-three wheels.
MADRIGAL (5)
A yellow herb. A cash crop grown in the southern Callas.
MANDRUS (3)
A disease like syphilis. Also known as whore’s blossoms.
MA’SUN (7)
War chest. Applied to the cache of arms Ted Brautigan prepares for Roland.
MAY YOUR DAYS BE LONG UPON THE EARTH (4, 4.5, 6)
A traditional greeting.
MIA (5)
An almost holy name that means “mother” in the High Speech.
MINGO (4)
A crop cultivated in Mejis.
MIR (3)
The Old People’s name for Shardik. They believed he was a demon incarnate, or the shadow of a god. The name means “the world beneath the world.”
MOIT (4.5, 5, 7)
A small number or amount of something. Five or six.
MOLLY (4, 4.5, 6)
Woman or female.
MUFFIN-BALLS (5)
Edible ground berries the size of tennis balls. Their horns are sour. Fried with fat, they taste like meat. They sometimes bring about lively dreams.
NEN (4.5)
A burning liquor. The Covenant Man gave some to Tim Ross to settle him down.
OGGAN (5, 6, 7)
Smooth-packed dirt used for a road surface.
OPOPANAX (5)
The ancient lacquered feather used by the people of Calla Bryn Sturgis to call a meeting. The person holding the large billowy feather during the meeting has the floor.
Crossovers to Other Works: The word also appears in The Plant and Black House, though it refers to other things. In the real world, the word refers to a kind of aromatic plant resin that hardens into a gum.
PAREY (4)
A crop cultivated in Mejis.
PETTIBONE (4)
An alcoholic drink.
POKEBERRIES (1, 5, 6, 7)
A fruit with orange skin and a golden interior.
POKIE (4.5)
A wandering cowboy not signed to any particular ranch.
POOKY (4.5)
An enormous reddish snake that dwells in the Endless Forest. Its spade-shaped head is as large as a skillet. They have poisonous fangs that paralyze victims before they are devoured. The final form the skin-man in Debaria takes on.
POPKINS (L, 1, 2, 4, 4.5, 5, 7)
Sandwiches. We know of tooter-fish (tuna) and shannie popkins.
PORIN (5)
A spice of great worth.
PRODDIE (4.5)
A hired hand at a ranch.
PUBE (L, 7, M)
A young person. The people in Lud adopted this word to describe their faction.
PULLS (5)
Cornshuck wraps used to roll cigarettes.
ROONT (5, 6, 7)
Calla Bryn Sturgis term meaning “ruined” that describes the condition of the children who come back after the Wolves take them. The changes depend on how old the child is, but in general they are mentally, emotionally and developmentally retarded and sexually dead. At about the age of sixteen, they suddenly grow to enormous size, a painful process. When they reach their thirties, they become old quickly and die young. The word is pronounced the same way as it is by people like John Cullum from central Maine.
RUSSEL (2)
To take a woman by force.
RUSTIES (4.5, 5, 6)
Swallows or giant blackbirds. Also known as bin-rusties.
SAI (THROUGHOUT)
A form of address, like “sir” or “mister” or “ma’am.”
SALIG (4)
A swamp animal akin to a crocodile or alligator. Long green things with big teeth.
SALTIES (4.5)
Miners in the salt mines near Debaria.
SANDAY (4)
A day of the week. The traditional cowboys’ day of rest in Hambry.
SCRIP (6)
A lawyer.
SELLIAN (3)
A language dialect, one of five that Roland knows how to speak. He claims to have forgotten most Sellian except for the curse words.
SEMINON (5, 6)
A windstorm that occurs in the Callas before true winter. They arise in the east in the desert between the Callas and Thunderclap. Often, they turn back when they reach the Whye River. Though there’s probably a good meteorological reason for this behavior, the locals believe that Lord Seminon begs Lady Oriza to make him welcome when he reaches the water, and she often bars his passage out of jealousy because Seminon married her sister and Lady Oriza wanted him for herself.
SEPPE-SAI (5, M)
Death dealer. The man who sold pies in the market in Gilead acquired that name because his wares made people ill. Roland is the last seppe-sai.
SET MY WATCH AND WARRANT ON/UPON/TO IT (1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)
I guarantee it.
SHADDIE (4.5)
A piece of canvas, like a tarpaulin.
SHANNIE (4.5)
An edible fish caught in the River Whye.
SHARPROOT (1, 4, 5)
A vegetable crop cultivated in Mejis and Calla Bryn Sturgis. The bright magenta roots of the green vine are edible. Roland used the roots to test the Sisters of Oriza’s skills.
SHEEVIN OR SHIVEEN (4, 5)
Another word for gilly. It refers to a whore who considers herself too good to provide service in trade and requires payment in coin. It is also translated as “quiet little woman,” or “side wife.”
SHUME (4.5)
An old Mid-World term that means both shame and sorrow. Related to ka-shume, a sense of dread about impending events.
SIGUL (L, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)
A sign or logo or omen.
SIMOOM (4.5)
A strong wind.
SKIDDUM (4.5)
A shack where some salt miners live. Most miners live in the mouths of the caves themselves. These shacks offer little but have the virtue of not being underground.
SLAGGITT (5)
A curse word in Calla Bryn Sturgis.
SLEWFEET (5)
Unskilled trackers.
SLINKUM (4.5, 7)
An old man’s strap-style white undershirt.
SLOWKINS (4.5)
Slow. Cort says that Roland is slowkins from the eyebrows up.
SNICK (4.5)
Clever or cagey.
SOH (4.5, 5, 6, 7)
Boy. Often used by itself, but sometimes appended to the end (Jake-soh) or front of a name (Soh Vikka).
SPARKLIGHTS (1, 4, 4.5, 5)
Electric lights with filaments. A few still worked in Gilead, but the last one burned out in Hambry two generations ago.
SPECIE (4.5)
Hard currency.
SPRIGGUM (5)
One of the ingredients in Rosalita’s cure for Roland’s dry twist. It comes from the swamp.
STEM (5)
A businessman like Moses Carver.
STUFFY-GUYS (4, 5)
Scarecrows. Traditionally, their hands are painted red and they’re thrown into the Reap-Night Bonfire. This is a surviving remnant of the generations-old charyou tree ritual where people were burned as a sacrifice to the gods.
TACK-SEE (3, 5, 7)
Roland’s interpretation of the word “taxi.”
TAKE A RIDE ON THE HANDSOME (3)
Die.
TELAMEI (5)
To gossip about someone you shouldn’t gossip about.
TEMPA (6)
A Manni meeting hall.
TET (3, 4.5, 5, 7)
A group of people.
TET-FA (4.5)
Friend of the tet.
TET-KA CAN GAN (7)
Navel.
THANKEE-SAI (THROUGHOUT)
Thank you.
THERE ARE OTHER (MORE) WORLDS THAN THESE (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
The last thing Jake says to Roland before the gunslinger abandons him to his death beneath the mountains while pursuing the man in black. Roland comes to believe that it’s one of the most important things anyone has ever said to him. The phrase is repeated throughout as the ka-tet realizes the importance of other universes to their quest.
THERE WILL BE WATER IF GOD WILLS IT (1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 7, M)
A proverb that means something will happen if it is destined to happen. Analogous to putting your faith in ka.
THIDDLES (7)
Buttocks.
THROCKEN (4.5, 7)
Another name for a billy-bumbler. Roland first heard this word in a book read to him by his mother, The Throcken and the Dragon. To see one is considered good luck.
THROCKET (4.5)
A group of billy-bumblers.