the Portuguese word for "fool"

Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'

The dodo was mocked by Portuguese and Dutch colonialists for its size and apparent lack of fear of armed, hungry hunters. It took its name from the Portuguese word for "fool", and was hunted to extinction within 200 years of Europeans landing on Mauritius.

you lookin at me?

Psychologists at the University of Liverpool have found that people still find it difficult to understand how mirrors work.

...from: Humans Do Not Understand Mirror Reflections, Say Researchers

....more than enough mirrors in Pynchon's work to confuse readers; in the opening of Mason & Dixon is one good place to start.