Vocabulary

brightness

Ming dynasty (of China; 1368-1644)

hexactinellid sponge; glass sponge (any sponge of class Hexactinellida)

trance; an altered state of consciousness

calcareous sponge (any sponge of class Calcarea)

siliceous sponge (any sponge other than those of class Calcarea)

spongin

palisade layer

sponge iron; direct reduced iron; DRI

parazoan (member of an ancestral subkingdom of animals whose only surviving members are the sponges)

metazoan (any member of the animal kingdom, excluding protozoans and sponges)

Zen monk's waistcoat (short, informal kasaya)

informal kasaya worn primarily by adherents of Pure Land Buddhism

the five eyes (physical eye, heavenly eye, wisdom eye, dharma eye and Buddha eye)

the wisdom eye

the Buddha eye

boom; bang; wham

thanks

to leave alone; to leave as is; to ignore; to neglect

flight attendant

attachment; craving

to smash down; to batter down; to beat in; to destroy

distinction between right and wrong; distinction between good and bad

father-in-law (of a woman)

with a start; with a jump

fuzzy set

merguez (beef or lamb sausage with chilli)

goulash

parochial; narrow-minded; prejudiced

influential; powerful; popular; prosperous; doing well

New Year's Day

employee; employed person

swamp morning glory (Ipomoea aquatica); water spinach; river spinach; kangkong; Chinese spinach; Chinese Watercress

homa-mandala (fire altar)

hard work

Nessie (i.e. the Loch Ness monster)

one thing or another; this and that; something or another

War of the Roses (1455-1485)

adds vagueness and indirectness to the word or phrase it is used with

number of times