| Term | Definition |
| sledding | transportation to Big Creek High School on a snowy day |
| saved Sonny from serious frostbite or worse | Geneva the town prostitute |
| Sonny's dad saved this baby from a fire | Geneva the town prostitute |
| Principles of Guided Missile Design | rocketry book |
| forest fire | supposedly caused by a rocket launch |
| a bet with Roy Lee | world's shortest kiss |
| beats Homer into Calculus class | Dorothy |
| Advanced Mathematics, a Self-Study | self education link between Homer Sr. and Sonny |
| winning the science fair | ticket out for Quentin |
| the dugout | high school hangout |
| Valentine's boyfriend | a |
| Dorothy's boyfriend | a |
| Sonny's introduction to "the back seat of a car: and other things | Valentine |
| Miss Riley's surprise present | rocketry book |
| killed in the mine accident | Mr. Bykovski |
| wounded in the mine accident | Homer Sr. |
| punched Sonny | a |
| dates Miss Riley | Jake |
| cast iron drainage pipes | money for rocket making supplies |
| cut on the wrist | Sonny |
| miners pay for the first time | house |
| John Eye's finest | rocket propellant ingredients with side effects |
| the Hickams laugh together at this person's drunkenness | Sonny |
| negotiated Cape Coalwood after rocket when awry | Homer Sr. |
| where the errant rocket landed | Reverend Richard's Church |