Jailbird

ad nauseam

Latin for 'to the point of nausea' — referring to something repeated so excessively it becomes sickening. Vonnegut uses it to capture the grinding, circular absurdity of bureaucratic and political life.

Friedrich Schiller

18th-century German poet, playwright, and philosopher, best known for 'Ode to Joy.' In Jailbird, Schiller's idealism about freedom and dignity haunts the novel's backdrop of American political disillusionment.

derring-do

Daring action; bold, often reckless heroism. Used ironically in Vonnegut's world, where the gap between heroic self-image and pathetic reality is the whole joke.

acrimonious

Bitter and sharp in manner or speech, especially in a dispute. The word fits the novel's portrait of labor conflicts and political betrayals where old allies turn on each other with venom.