Posted in: darrelrussell.com edit
07 Jan 2009
I was once told the word that means "x's for eyes", as in depictions
of drunken or deceased characters. Alas, I have forgotten it, and it
is driving me mad. I would like the word, please, and if found online,
the link to the reference.Gosh, folks, don'tcha want my money? Somebody cut & paste one of the
comments into the answer box and I'll approve it ... please! You did
very well, and I'm satisfied.What I mean is, I can't start that process on my end, can I?If it helps any, I have in my fruitless searches for an answer come
across references to "stitched eyes", which due to the resemblance of
the 'X' depiction may be the genesis of this word (it may not, no wild
google chase intended).I have a book (which I cannot, unfortunately, access at work) called
"What's What" which lists the technical names for various parts of
everything, from fighter planes to hiking boots. One of the sections
covers the various iconographical squiggles and marks that convey
meaning in a cartoon, such as the wiggle-lines that "running feet"
make in a comic strip, the anonymous symbols that indicate a swear in
a word balloon, etc. The book also lists the term for the crossed-eyes
to indicate an unconscious, drunk, or dead person. If I get home
before this question is answered, I will look it up in this book. If
any other researcher happens to have this book on his or her shelf, by
all means, go for it.I'm still working on this question but I found a small clue that may
help at least with part of the question. Check out this website and
scroll down near the bottom where the person is talking about the
novel "Travis Mcgee", I think you might find it interesting. I'll
post anything else I find. Hope this helps.
http://www.212.net/wings.htmAlso available at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0940420007/qid=1034281042/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-2250911-2354218?v=glance&n=507846Thanks to smudgy-ga I located a copy of the book and it does indeed
have a page and I think the answer is there. It shows a picture of a
drunk man with "x's in his eyes" and the word "Oculama" next to it. I
looked up oculama on google, take a look:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=oculama
It seems to indicate that it means "the art of creating eyes" so I'm
not sure this is correct. By the way it appears on pages 380-381 of
the book "What's What:A Visual dictionary of the Physical World" by
David Fischer and Reginald Bragonier Jr. 1990.I can let you know which libraries own the book:
IL SUBURBAN LIBR SYST
AL AUBURN UNIV
ID BOISE STATE UNIV
IN INDIANA COOP LIBR SERV AUTH
KY NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIV
MI MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
MO UNIV OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA
NY SUNY COL AT ONEONTA
NY SYRACUSE UNIV
OH OHIO STATE UNIV, THE
OH PUBLIC LIBR OF CINCINNATI/HAMILTON CNTY
OH UNIV OF AKRON
OH UPPER ARLINGTON PUB LIBR
OR EUGENE PUB LIBR
OR UNIV OF OREGON LIBR
PA UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA
PA UNIV OF THE ARTS
WA TWIN RIVER CORR CTR LIBR
WI LA CROSSE PUB LIBR
Basically you can contact the libraries or find their individual
websites. Also your home library can obtain the book through an
Interlibrary loan.Wow, you folks are amazing. Your answers led me to the book, "The
Lexicon of Comicana", by Mort Walker, which is apparently considered
the terminology bible. Is it in your researching ability to have
someone look it up in this book as well?I'm very satisfied at this point, but don't one of you two have to
"answer" the question from your side in order to finish the process
and receive some ratings?