323 lines
9.1 KiB
Plaintext
323 lines
9.1 KiB
Plaintext
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Anarchy inc. .. presents ..
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[A CLOCKWORK ORANGE] Glossary of NADSAT Language
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Compiled and typed in by: The Stranger (...Harrison)
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Reprinted without permission from the novel "A Clockwork Orange", by Anthony
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Burgess (c) 1962 - All rights reserved.
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Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the book (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) is it's
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language. Alex thinks and talks in the "nadsat" (teenage) vocabulary of the
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future. A doctor in the book explains it. "Odd bits of old rhyming sland,"
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he says. "A bit of gypsy talk, too. But most of the roots are Slav.
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Propaganda. Subliminal penetration." Nadsat is not quite so hard to
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decipher as Cretan Linear B, and Alex translates it. I found that I could not
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read the book without compiling a glossary; I reprint it here, although it
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is entirely unauthorized, and some of it is guesswork.
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At first the vocabulary seems incomprehensible: "you could peet it with
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vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other veshches." Then the
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reader, even if he knows no Russian, discovers that some of the meaning is
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clear from context: "to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him
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swim in his blood." Other words are intelligible after a second context:
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when Alex kicks a fallen enemy on the "gulliver" it might be any part of the
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body, but when a glass of beer is served with a gulliver, "gulliver" is head.
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(Life is easier, of course, for those who know the Russian word golova.)
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Anthony Burgess has not used Russian words mechanically, but with great
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ingenuity, as the transformation into "gulliver," with its Swiftian associates,
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suggests. Others are brilliantly anglicized: khorosho (good or well) as
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"horrowshow"; iudi (people) as "lewdies"; militsia (militia or police) as
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millicents. Burgess has not used Russian words in an American slang extension,
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such as nadsat itself, in the termination of the Russian numbers eleven to
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nineteen, which he breaks off independently on the analogy of our "teen". Thus
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kopat (to dig with a shovel) is used as "dig" in the sense of enjoy or under-
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stand; koshka (cat) and ptitsa (bird) become the hip "cat" and "chick";
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neezhny (lower) turns into "neezhnies" (underpants); pooshka (cannon) becomes
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the term for a pistol; rozha (grimace) turns into "rozz", one of the words
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for policeman; samyi (the most) becomes "sammy" (generous); soomka (bag) is the
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slang "ugly woman"; vareet (to cook up) is also used in the slang sense, for
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something preparing or transpiring.
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The "gypsy talk", I would guess, includes Alex's phrase "O my brothers", and
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"crark" (to yowl?), "cutter" (money), "filly" (to fool with), and such.
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The rhyming slang includes "luscious glory" or "hair" (rhyming with "upper
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story"?) and "pretty polly" for "money" (rhyming with "lolly" or current slang)
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Others are inevitable associations, such as "cancer" for "cigarette" and
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"charlie" for "chaplain". Others are produced simply by schoolboy transforma-
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tions: "appy polly loggy" (apology), "baddiwad" (bad), "eggiweg" (egg),
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"skolliwoll" (school), and so forth. Others are amputations: "guff" (guffaw),
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"pee and em" (pop and mom), "sarky" (sarcastic), "sinny" (cinema). Some
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appear to be portmanteau words: "chumble" (chatter-mumble), "mounch" (mouth-
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munch), "shive" (shiv-shave), "skirking" (striking-scratching).
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There are slight inconsistencies in the story when Alex forgets his word and
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invents another or uses our word, but on the whole he handles his Russianate
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vocabulary in a masterly fashion. It has a wonderful sound, particularly in
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abuse, when "grahzny bratchny" sounds infinitely better than "dirty bastard".
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[The above material was re-printed without permission from the AFTERWORD from
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A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It is condensed as to save wear-and-tear on my fingers.]
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Stanley Edgar Hyman
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July, 1963
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GLOSSARY OF NADSAT LANGUAGE
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Words that don't seem to be of Russian origin are distinguished by asterisks.
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* appy polly loggy - apology
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baboochka - old woman
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baddiwad - bad
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banda - band
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bezoomny - mad
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biblio - library
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bitva - battle
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Bog - God
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bolnoy - sick
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bolshy - big, great
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brat, bratty - brother
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bratchny - bastard
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britva - razor
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brooko - belly
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brosay - to throw
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bugatty - rich
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cal - feces
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* cancer - cigarette
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cantora - office
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carman - pocket
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chai - tea
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* charles, charlie - chaplain
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chasha - cup
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chasso - guard
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cheena - woman
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cheest - to wash
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chelloveck - person, man, follow
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chepooka - nonsense
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choodessny - wonderful
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* chumble - to mumble
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clop - beak
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collocoll - bell
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* crack - to break up or "bust"
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* crark - to yowl?
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crast - to rob or steal; robbery
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creech - to shout or scream
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* cutter - money
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dama - lady
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ded - old man
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deng - money
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devotchka - girl
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dobby - good
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* dook - trace, ghost
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domy - house
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dorogoy - dear, valuable
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dratsing - fighting
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* drencrom - drug
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droog - friend (ie: my droogies)
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* dung - to defecate
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dva - two
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eegra - game
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eemya - name
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* eggiweg - egg
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* filly - to play or fool with
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* firegold - drink
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* fist - to punch
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* flip - wild?
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forella - "trout"
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gazetta - newspaper
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glazz - eye
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gloopy - stupid
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* golly - unit of money
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goloss - voice
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goober - lip
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gooly - to walk
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gorlo - throat
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govorett - to speak or talk
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grahzny - dirty
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grazzy - soiled
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gromky - loud
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groody - breast
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gruppa - group
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* guff - guffaw
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gulliver - head
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* gulliwuts - guts
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* hen-korm - chickenfeed
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* horn - to cry out
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horrorshow - good, well
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* in-out in-out - copulation
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interessovat - to interest
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itty - to go
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* jammiwam - jam
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jeezny - life
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kartoffel - potato
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keeshkas - guts
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kleb - bread
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kootch - key
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knopka - button
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kopat - to "dig"
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koshka - cat
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kot - tomcat
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krovvy - blood
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kupet - to buy
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lapa - paw
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lewdies - people
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* lighter - crone?
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litso - face
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tomtick - piece, bit
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loveted - caught
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lubbilubbing - making love
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* luscious glory - hair
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malchick - boy
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malenky - little, tiny
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malso - butter
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merzky - filthy
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messel - thought, fancy
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mesto - place
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millicent - policeman
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minoota - minute
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molodoy - young
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moloko - milk
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moodge - man
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morder - snout
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* mounch - snack
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mozg - brain
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nachinat - to begin
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nadmenny - arrogant
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nadsat - teenage
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nagoy - naked
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* nazz - fool
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neezhnies - underpants
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nochy - night
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noga - foot, leg
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nozh - knife
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nuking - smelling
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oddy knocky - lonesome
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odin - one
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okno - window
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oobivat - to kill
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ookadeet - to leave
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ooko - ear
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oomny - brainy
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oozhassny - terrible
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oozy - chain
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osoosh - to wipe
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otchkies - eyeglasses
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* pan-handle - erection
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* pee and em - parents
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peet - to drink
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pischcha - food
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platch - to cry
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platties - clothes
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pletcho - shoulder
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plenny - prisoner
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plesk - splash
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* plosh - to splash
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plott - body
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podooshka - pillow
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pol - sex
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polezny - useful
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* polyclef - skeleton key
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pony - to understand
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poogly - frightened
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pooshka - "cannon"
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prestoopnik - criminal
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privodeet - to lead somewhere
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* pretty polly - money
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prod - to produce
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ptitsa - "chick"
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pyahnitsa - drunk
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rabbit - work, job
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radosty - joy
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raskazz - story
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rassoodock - mind
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raz - time
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razdraz - upset
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razrez - to rip, ripping
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rock, rooker - hand, arm
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rot - mouth
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rozz - policeman
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sabog - shoe
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sakar - sugar
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sammy - generous
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* sarky - sarcastic
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scotenna - "cow"
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shaika - gang
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* sharp - female
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sharries - buttocks
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shest - barrier
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* shilarny - concern
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* shive - slice
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shiyah - neck
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shlem - helmet
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* shlaga - club
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shlapa - hat
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shoom - noise
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shoot - fool
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* sinny - cinema
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shazat - to say
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* skolliwoll - school
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skorry - quick, quickly
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* shriking - scratching
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shvat - to grab
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sladky - sweet
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sloochat - to happen
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sloosh, slosshy - to hear, to listen
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slovo - word
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smech - laugh
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smot - to look
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sneety - dream
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* snoutie - tobacco?
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* snuff it - to die
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sobirat - to pick up
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* sod - to fornicate, fornicator
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soomaka - "bag"
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soviet - advice, order
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spat - to sleep
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spatchka - sleep
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* splodge, splosh - splash
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* spoogy - terrified
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* Staja - State Jail
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starry - ancient
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strack - horror
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* synthemesc - drug
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tally - waist
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* tashtook - handkerchief
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* tass - cup
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tolchock - to hit or push;blow, beating
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toofles - slippers
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tree - three
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vareet - to "cook up"
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* vaysay - washroom
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veck - (see chelloveck)
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* vellocet - drug
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veshch - thing
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viddy - to see or look
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voloss - hair
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von - smell
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vred - to harm or damage
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yahma - hole
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* yahoodies - Jews
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yabzick - tongue
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* yarbles - testicles
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yeckate - to drive
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* warble - song
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zammechat - remarkable
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zasnoot - sleep
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zhenna - wife
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zoobies - teeth
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zvonock - bellpull
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zvook - sound
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Editor's note: The idea of this text-file is so people can print this
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------------- glossary out, without having to tear apart the book. Some
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of us live by this movie..
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4/1/86 - Anarchy inc.(tm) All Rights Reserved.
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Call The Works BBS - 1600+ Textfiles! - [914]/238-8195 - 300/1200 - Always Open
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