Definitions
A socially awkward or tactless act
Faux pas
This author of The Picture of Dorian Gray was better known for his flamboyant personality and fashion sense than for his writing.
Oscar Wilde
Set in the jazz age, a lonely millionaire pursues his long lost love.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
Maya Angelou
Breaking a mirror brings you this many years of bad luck.
Seven
A feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
Melancholy
Philip Seymour Hoffman lost 40 pounds to play this author in the biopic about his life.
Truman Capote
This novel follows the lives of four sisters, detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Mahatma Gandhi
Don't step on a crack! Or you'll....
Break your mother's back!
An official or legal cancellation, typically of a marriage.
Annulment
She was one of the most reclusive poets in American literature history. She only went outside to tend to her garden, and didn't even leave her bedroom to attend her father's funeral downstairs.
Emily Dickinson
A prominent and ethical lawyer defends a black man who was wrongly accused of raping a white woman.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."
Wayne Gretzky
Lifting your feet from the pedals while driving over railroad tracks ensures this.
It ensures that you find true love/protects you from dying young
A countless or extremely great number
Myriad
His legacy survives not only in his plays, but also in his contributions to the English language. The phrase "star crossed lovers" originally came from him.
William Shakespeare
This novel follows the turbulent relationship between the daughter of a country gentleman and a rich, aristocratic landowner.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be."
Abe Lincoln
Never place two mirrors opposite/facing each other for this reason.
Facing mirrors opens a doorway for the devil.
A Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other
Quid Pro Quo
This poet, memoirist and civil rights activist became the first African American and woman to read a poem at a presidential inauguration (specifically Bill Clinton's).
Maya Angelou
A dystopian novel about a world under totalitarian rule, under Big Brother's eye.
1984 by George Orwell
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
This German superstition declares that if you cheers with water, this happens.
You're actually wishing death upon the people you're drinking with.