List No. 018

NICK CAVE’S HANDWRITTEN DICTIONARY

Nick Cave

1984

The great Nick Cave is a lover of lists. He also, as someone who for decades has spent his time writing songs, screenplays and novels, has a mild obsession with language. It therefore makes perfect sense to learn that Cave sometimes writes, by hand, personal dictionaries filled with notable words – those words which for some reason need to be committed to paper, filed away for future use. Here is a page taken from just one magnificent example, penned in 1984 as he travelled in Berlin.

Ⓐ ANA―

ANATHEMA – curse; anything acursed anything accursed; ban of the church

ANEURISM – swelling out of part of an artery

AMUCK – run about in murderous frenzy

ANABOLISM – constructive process as opposed to destructive process * (KATABOLISM)) of metabolism.

ANABRANCH – Tributary of river which rejoins mainstream forming island

ANASTOMOSE – Interconnection of views, arteries, rivers etc: interleaving of any spreading system as the views of leaves etc.

ANABAPTIST – advocate of adult baptism only + of the rebaptism of inb

AVOCATION – vocation, employment

AVOUCH – v. to affirm, maintain attest, own n.-avouch n.-ment

AWN – bead of cord, etc.

AWNING – canvas roof or shelter to protect from sun

AWRY – crookedly, perversely – a crooked distorted wrong.

AVIDITY – eagerness – (AVID)

AVAUNT! – interj. – away!

AVAST! – interj. – stop!

AUTOGENOUS – self generated

AUTOGAMY – self fertilisation

AUTO-EROTICISM – in psycho-analysis: self produced erotic emotion

AUTOCRAT – absolute ruler

AUTOCH’THON – (-ok-) primitive or original inhab inhabitant

AUTARCHY – despotism, absolute power dictatorship