Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, "Why, why, why?"

Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.

The Book of Bokonon - 81st Calypso

Bokononism encompasses a number of unique concepts:

Calypso – song from The Book of Bokonon. Eight such songs are preserved, some of them are presented with a title (e.g. On Dynamic Tension or The Boko-maru Calypso) and others are presented with a number (e.g. The Hundred-and-nineteenth Calypso). The Calypsos illustrate various aspects of the teachings of Bokonon.
Duffle – the destiny of thousands of people placed on one stuppa
Duprass – a karass that consists of only two people. This is one of the few kinds of karass about which one can have any reliable knowledge. The two members of a duprass live lives that revolve around each other, and are therefore often married. "A true duprass can't be invaded, not even by children born of such a union." The two members of a duprass always die within a week of each other.
Foma – harmless untruths; lies that, if used correctly, can be useful.
Granfalloon – a false karass; i.e., a group of people who imagine they have a connection that does not really exist.
Kan-kan – the instrument which brings one into one's karass
Karass – A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial links are not evident.
Wampeter – the central theme or purpose of a karass. A karass generally has one wampeter that it revolves around, but there can be two if one is shifting out of focus (waning) and a new one is coming in as the central theme (waxing).
Pool-pah – wrath of God, "shit storm"
Saroon – to acquiesce to a vin-dit
Sinookas – the tendrils of one's life
Stuppa – "a fogbound child" (an idiot)
Vin-dit – a sudden shove in the direction of Bokononism
Wrang-wrang – someone who steers a Bokononist away from a line of speculation by reducing that line, with the example of the wrang-wrang's own life, to an absurdity.
Zah-mah-ki-bo – fate, inevitable destiny


All persons both living and dead are purely coincidental and should not be construed