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[A CLOCKWORK ORANGE] Glossary of NADSAT Language
Compiled and typed in by: The Stranger (...Harrison)

Reprinted without permission from the novel "A Clockwork Orange", by Anthony
Burgess (c) 1962 - All rights reserved.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the book (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) is it's
language.  Alex thinks and talks in the "nadsat" (teenage) vocabulary of the
future.  A doctor in the book explains it.  "Odd bits of old rhyming sland,"
he says.  "A bit of gypsy talk, too.  But most of the roots are Slav.
Propaganda.  Subliminal penetration."  Nadsat is not quite so hard to
decipher as Cretan Linear B, and Alex translates it.  I found that I could not
read the book without compiling a glossary; I reprint it here, although it
is entirely unauthorized, and some of it is guesswork.

At first the vocabulary seems incomprehensible: "you could peet it with
vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other veshches."  Then the
reader, even if he knows no Russian, discovers that some of the meaning is
clear from context: "to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him
swim in his blood."  Other words are intelligible after a second context:
when Alex kicks a fallen enemy on the "gulliver" it might be any part of the
body, but when a glass of beer is served with a gulliver, "gulliver" is head.
(Life is easier, of course, for those who know the Russian word golova.)

Anthony Burgess has not used Russian words mechanically, but with great
ingenuity, as the transformation into "gulliver," with its Swiftian associates,
suggests.  Others are brilliantly anglicized: khorosho (good or well) as
"horrowshow"; iudi (people) as "lewdies"; militsia (militia or police) as
millicents. Burgess has not used Russian words in an American slang extension,
such as nadsat itself, in the termination of the Russian numbers eleven to
nineteen, which he breaks off independently on the analogy of our "teen".  Thus
kopat (to dig with a shovel) is used as "dig" in the sense of enjoy or under-
stand; koshka (cat) and ptitsa (bird) become the hip "cat" and "chick";
neezhny (lower) turns into "neezhnies" (underpants); pooshka (cannon) becomes
the term for a pistol; rozha (grimace) turns into "rozz", one of the words
for policeman; samyi (the most) becomes "sammy" (generous); soomka (bag) is the
slang "ugly woman"; vareet (to cook up) is also used in the slang sense, for
something preparing or transpiring.

The "gypsy talk", I would guess, includes Alex's phrase "O my brothers", and
"crark" (to yowl?), "cutter" (money), "filly" (to fool with), and such.
The rhyming slang includes "luscious glory" or "hair" (rhyming with "upper
story"?) and "pretty polly" for "money" (rhyming with "lolly" or current slang)
Others are inevitable associations, such as "cancer" for "cigarette" and
"charlie" for "chaplain".  Others are produced simply by schoolboy transforma-
tions: "appy polly loggy" (apology), "baddiwad" (bad), "eggiweg" (egg),
"skolliwoll" (school), and so forth.  Others are amputations: "guff" (guffaw),
"pee and em" (pop and mom), "sarky" (sarcastic), "sinny" (cinema).  Some
appear to be portmanteau words: "chumble" (chatter-mumble), "mounch" (mouth-
munch), "shive" (shiv-shave), "skirking" (striking-scratching).

There are slight inconsistencies in the story when Alex forgets his word and
invents another or uses our word, but on the whole he handles his Russianate
vocabulary in a masterly fashion.  It has a wonderful sound, particularly in
abuse, when "grahzny bratchny" sounds infinitely better than "dirty bastard".

[The above material was re-printed without permission from the AFTERWORD from
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.  It is condensed as to save wear-and-tear on my fingers.]

       Stanley Edgar Hyman
	   July, 1963


GLOSSARY OF NADSAT LANGUAGE

Words that don't seem to be of Russian origin are distinguished by asterisks.


  baboochka - old woman
  baddiwad - bad
  banda - band
  bezoomny - mad
  biblio - library
  bitva - battle
  Bog - God
  bolnoy - sick
  bolshy - big, great
  brat, bratty - brother
  bratchny - bastard
  britva - razor
  brooko - belly
  brosay - to throw
  bugatty - rich
  cal - feces

  cantora - office
  carman - pocket
  chai - tea

  chasha - cup
  chasso - guard
  cheena - woman
  cheest - to wash
  chelloveck - person, man, follow
  chepooka - nonsense
  choodessny - wonderful

  clop - beak
  collocoll - bell

  crast - to rob or steal; robbery
  creech - to shout or scream

  dama - lady
  ded - old man
  deng - money
  devotchka - girl
  dobby - good

  domy - house
  dorogoy - dear, valuable
  dratsing - fighting

  droog - friend (ie: my droogies)

  dva - two
  eegra - game
  eemya - name

  forella - "trout"
  gazetta - newspaper
  glazz - eye
  gloopy - stupid

  goloss - voice
  goober - lip
  gooly - to walk
  gorlo - throat
  govorett - to speak or talk
  grahzny - dirty
  grazzy - soiled
  gromky - loud
  groody - breast
  gruppa - group

  gulliver - head

  horrorshow - good, well

  interessovat - to interest
  itty - to go

  jeezny - life
  kartoffel - potato
  keeshkas - guts
  kleb - bread
  kootch - key
  knopka - button
  kopat - to "dig"
  koshka - cat
  kot - tomcat
  krovvy - blood
  kupet - to buy
  lapa - paw
  lewdies - people

  litso - face
  tomtick - piece, bit
  loveted - caught
  lubbilubbing - making love

  malchick - boy
  malenky - little, tiny
  malso - butter
  merzky - filthy
  messel - thought, fancy
  mesto - place
  millicent - policeman
  minoota - minute
  molodoy - young
  moloko - milk
  moodge - man
  morder - snout

  mozg - brain
  nachinat - to begin
  nadmenny - arrogant
  nadsat - teenage
  nagoy - naked

  neezhnies - underpants
  nochy - night
  noga - foot, leg
  nozh - knife
  nuking - smelling
  oddy knocky - lonesome
  odin - one
  okno - window
  oobivat - to kill
  ookadeet - to leave
  ooko - ear
  oomny - brainy
  oozhassny - terrible
  oozy - chain
  osoosh - to wipe
  otchkies - eyeglasses

  peet - to drink
  pischcha - food
  platch - to cry
  platties - clothes
  pletcho - shoulder
  plenny - prisoner
  plesk - splash

  plott - body
  podooshka - pillow
  pol - sex
  polezny - useful

  pony - to understand
  poogly - frightened
  pooshka - "cannon"
  prestoopnik - criminal
  privodeet - to lead somewhere

  prod - to produce
  ptitsa - "chick"
  pyahnitsa - drunk
  rabbit - work, job
  radosty - joy
  raskazz - story
  rassoodock - mind
  raz - time
  razdraz - upset
  razrez - to rip, ripping
  rock, rooker - hand, arm
  rot - mouth
  rozz - policeman
  sabog - shoe
  sakar - sugar
  sammy - generous

  scotenna - "cow"
  shaika - gang

  sharries - buttocks
  shest - barrier

  shiyah - neck
  shlem - helmet

  shlapa - hat
  shoom - noise
  shoot - fool

  shazat - to say

  skorry - quick, quickly

  shvat - to grab
  sladky - sweet
  sloochat - to happen
  sloosh, slosshy - to hear, to listen
  slovo - word
  smech - laugh
  smot - to look
  sneety - dream

  sobirat - to pick up

  soomaka - "bag"
  soviet - advice, order
  spat - to sleep
  spatchka - sleep

  starry - ancient
  strack - horror

  tally - waist

  tolchock - to hit or push;blow, beating
  toofles - slippers
  tree - three
  vareet - to "cook up"

  veck - (see chelloveck)

  veshch - thing
  viddy - to see or look
  voloss - hair
  von - smell
  vred - to harm or damage
  yahma - hole

  yabzick - tongue

  yeckate - to drive

  zammechat - remarkable
  zasnoot - sleep
  zhenna - wife
  zoobies - teeth
  zvonock - bellpull
  zvook - sound

Editor's note: The idea of this text-file is so people can print this
-------------  glossary out, without having to tear apart the book.  Some
	       of us live by this movie..

Further Notes:  Bit of the 'ol Ultraviolence, fellow droogies?
                 Muahaha{tan them eyeballs}ahahahaha{tan them eyeballs}ahaha!

                                         - Dr. Murdock

4/1/86 - Anarchy inc.(tm)  All Rights Reserved.

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