Appendix:A Clockwork Orange

This is a list of the Nadsat words and other fictional terms found in the book by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, along with their meanings in English and their lexical origins.

The Nadsat slang word is shown with its closest English meaning or meanings. Its Russian origin is shown in Cyrillic, with an approximate transliteration, if pronounced (very) differently from the Nadsat. The translation of the Russian word is also shown if it differs from the English meaning. Words of uncertain origin are marked with a '?', and words which are modified English slang (not of foreign origin) are marked with a '-'.

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Terms in A Clockwork Orange

Nadsat	English	Word origin
A
appy polly loggies	apologies	Highly exaggerated pronunciation of apologies – Burgess's homage to James Joyce's ALP in Finnegans Wake
auto	car	Short for automobile; mirrors the usage in Russian: see авто (avto). Not exclusively Nadsat.
B
baboochka	old woman	бабушка (babuška, literally “grandmother”)
baddiwad	bad	Reduplication of bad Young child talk
banda	band	банда (banda, “gang”)
barry place	prison	From bars on windows in prisons.
bedways	to bed	—
bezoomny	mad, crazy	безумный (bezumnyj)
biblio	library	библиотека (biblioteka)
bitva	battle	битва (bitva)
blub	weep, cry	English slang. Not exclusively Nadsat. From the verb form of the English word blubber, often used in a dismissive or insensitive manner, meaning to sob or weep noisily.
Bog	God	бог (bog) (pronounced /box/ (where x sounds like kh) or (in some dialects) /bog/)
bogman	godman	See section G below
boomaboom	thunder	Onomatopoeia. Reduplication of boom
bolnoy	sick	больной (bolʹnoj)
bolshy	big, great	большой (bolʹšoj); больший (bolʹšij, “larger”). Cf bolshie
boohoo, boohoohoo	to cry	From the sound that one makes while crying. Not exclusively Nadsat.
boorjoyce	bourgeois	Burgess' pronunciation of "bourgeois".
bootick	boutique
brat, bratty	brother	брат (brat)
bratchny	bastard	брачный (bračnyj, “matrimonial”), — likely a shortened внебрачный (vnebračnyj, “out-of-wedlock”), even though stripping it of the prefix inverts the meaning
britva	razor	бритва (britva)
brooko	belly	брюхо (brjuxo)
brosay, brosat	to throw	бросай (brosaj, “throw!”, imperative), бросать (brosatʹ, “to throw”)
bruiseboys	police officers, security guards
bugatties	riches	богатый (bogatyj). Cf also [[
bugatty	rich	богатый (bogatyj); cf Bugatti, a type of luxury car.
C
cables	blood vessels, tendons?, veins
cal	crap	кал (kal, “faeces”), sometimes used as an invective as well
cancer	cigarette	Short for English slang cancer stick from the disease with which heavy smoking is most commonly associated
cantora	office	контора (kontora)
carman	pocket	карман (karman)
chai	tea	чай (čaj), not exclusively Nadsat.
charles, charlie	chaplain	A play on Charlie Chaplin. Not exclusively Nadsat.
chasha	cup	чашка (čaška); чаша (čaša, “large bowl”)
chasso	guard	часовой (časovoj)
cheena	woman	женщина (ženščina)
cheest	to wash	чистить (čistitʹ, “to clean”)
chelloveck	person, man, fellow	человек (čelovek, “human, man”)
chepooka	nonsense	чепуха (čepuxa)
choodessny	wonderful	чудесный (čudesnyj)
chumble	to mumble	Blend of chatter +‎ mumble
cine	cinema, film	French slang ciné; cf кино (kino)
clockwork	mechanically responsive	(See notes)
clop	to knock	хлопать (xlopatʹ, “clap”); German klopfen (“to knock”); onomatopoeia
cluve	beak	клюв (kljuv)
collocoll	bell	колокол (kolokol)
crack	to break up, smash	—
crark	to howl	Blend of crow +‎ bark
crast	steal, rob, robbery	красть (krastʹ, “to steal”)
creech	to shout, scream	кричать (kričatʹ)
cutter	money	From Cockney rhyming slang derived from bread-and-butter
D
dama	lady	дама (dama); cf Dame
decrep	elder	Short for "decrepit"
ded, dedoochka	old man	дед (ded), дедушка (deduška, “grandfather”), coll. "old man"
deng	money	деньги (denʹgi)
devotchka	young woman	девочка (devočka, “girl”)
dobby	good	добрый (dobryj, “kind, good”)
dook	trace, ghost	дух (dux, literally “spirit”); Romani dook (“magic”)
domy	house	дом (dom)
dorogoy	dear, valuable, expensive	дорогой (dorogoj)
dratsing	fighting	драться (dratʹsja, “to fight”)
drencrom	drug	Possibly adrenochrome
droog	friend	друг (drug, “friend”)
droogie	friendly	дружелюбно (druželjubno, “friendly”)
dung	to defecate	—
dva	two	два (dva)
E
eegra	game	игра (igra)
eemya	name	имя (imja)
eggiweg	egg	Reduplication of egg
em	mother	Derived from the first letter of "mother".
espresso rapido	train	"fast express" in Italian
eunuch jelly	gutless coward
F
fag	tire, exhaust	English slang. Not exclusively Nadsat.
faggy/fagged	tired, exhausted
fashed	bothered, annoyed, tired	Scots fash
filly	to play or fool around with	Dim. of "fiddle", cf filly (horse)
filmdrome	cinema	From δρόμος (drómos, “course”), meaning "place for doing films".
firegold	strong drink	? "firewater"
fist	to punch	From Engl. fist, cf удар кулаком, БИТЬ кулаком
flatblock	block of flats, apartment block
flip	wild	From Eng. slang to flip out (“to go mad/crazy”)
forella	trout, old lady	форель (forelʹ), from German Forelle
fuzzy	scratchy
G
gazetta	newspaper	газета (gazeta), cf gazette
glazz, glazzies, glazzballs	Eye, eyes (also used to refer to nipples)	глаз (glaz)
gloopy	stupid	глупый (glupyj)
glory	hair	Poss. a ref to 1 Corinthians 11:15: "if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."
godman	priest, chaplain
golly	unit of money	Rhyming slang, "lolly," or "pretty polly"
goloss	voice/tone	голос (golos)
goober	lip	губа (guba)
gooly	to walk	гулять (guljatʹ)
gorlo	throat	горло (gorlo)
govoreet	speak	говорить (govoritʹ)
grahzny	dirty	грязный (grjaznyj)
grape	uvula	Poss. from its appearance.
grazzy	soiled	грязь (grjazʹ, “dirt”), грязный (grjaznyj, “dirty”)
gromky	loud	громкий (gromkij)
groody	breast	грудь (grudʹ, “breast”), груди pl (grudi, “breasts”)
gruppa	group	группа (gruppa)
guff, guffaw	laugh	guffaw
gulliver	head	голова (golova); Nadsat form influenced by the titular character of Gulliver's Travels
guttiwuts	guts	Reduplication of guts
H
hen-korm	chickenfeed	Engl. hen + корм (korm, noun, literally “feed”), but cf corn
horn	to cry out	—
horrorshow	good, well, wonderful, excellent	хорошо (xorošo, “well, good”)
hound-and-horny	corny	Rhyming slang
I
in-out in-out, the old in and out	sexual intercourse	—
interessovat	to interest	интересовать (interesovatʹ)
itty	to go	идти (idti, “to go”)
J
jammiwam	jam	Reduplication of jam
jeezny	life	жизнь (žiznʹ)
juice	tears	-
K
kartoffel	potatoes	картофель (kartofelʹ), which itself is derived from German Kartoffel (“potato”)
kashl	cough	кашель (kašelʹ)
keeshkas	guts	кишка (kiška, “gut”)
kisa	girl	киса (kisa, literally “kitty”)
kleb	bread	хлеб (xleb)
klootch	key	ключ (ključ)
knives	drugs	?knives and forks?
knopka	button	кнопка (knopka); cf knob
knopkavat	buttoning	кнопка (knopka) + -овать (-ovatʹ) (pronounced -avat) suffix used to form verb infinitive from the noun, cf. газ (gaz, “gas”) - colloquial газовать (gazovatʹ, “to gas up”)
kopat	to 'dig' (appreciate)	копать (kopatʹ, literally “to dig”)
korova	cow	корова (korova)
koshka	cat, tomcat	кошка (koška)
koshtoom	clothing	костюм (kostjum, “suit”)
kot	tomcat	кот (kot)
krovvy	blood	кровь (krovʹ)
kupet	to buy	купить (kupitʹ)
L
lapa	paw	лапа (lapa)
lewdies	people	люди (ljudi)
lighter	old woman, crone	лета (leta) (literally "summers", used to express age)
litso	face	лицо (lico)
lomtick	piece, bit	ломтик (lomtik, “slice”)
luna	moon	луна (luna); cf lunar
loveted	caught	ловить (lovitʹ, “to catch”)
lubbilubbing	making love	любить (ljubitʹ, “to love”), люблю (ljublju, “(I) love”); Reduplication of love
luscious glory	hair	Rhyming slang, possibly "upper storey" (or, more likely, a reference to 'crowning glory'); poss. a ref to 1 Corinthians 11:15: "if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."
M
malchick	boy	мальчик (malʹčik)
malenky	little, tiny	маленький (malenʹkij)
maskie	mask	маска (maska)
maslo	butter	масло (maslo)
merzky	filthy	мерзкий (merzkij, literally “vile, disgusting”)
messel	thought, fancy	мысль (myslʹ)
mesto	place	место (mesto)
mewler (or: mowler)	to mew	—
millicents	police	From милиционер (milicioner, literally “a militsiya officer”) (милиция (milicija)), influenced by the given name Millicent. Cf militia
millicent-van	police car, police van	-
minoota	minute	минута (minuta)
molodoy	young	молодой (molodoj)
moloko	milk	молоко (moloko)
Moloko plus	milk laced with drugs	(See notes)
moodge	man	муж (muž, “husband”), archaic, high-flown "man"
morder	snout	морда (morda)
mounch	snack	munch
munchy-wunching	munching	Reduplication of munching
mozg	brain	мозг (mozg)
N
nachinat	to begin	начинать (načinatʹ)
nadmenny	arrogant	надменный (nadmennyj)
nadsat	teenage	From -надцать (-nadcatʹ, “-teen”), suffix; e.g., одиннадцать (odinnadcatʹ), двенадцать (dvenadcatʹ), тринадцать (trinadcatʹ), etc.
nagoy	naked	нагой (nagoj, “nude”), high-flown for "naked"
nazz	fool	назад (nazad, “backward”)
neezhnies	underpants	нижнее n (nižneje, “lower”, adjective); нижнее бельё (nižneje belʹjó, “underwear”)
nochy	night/nocturnal	ночь (nočʹ) ночной (nočnoj)
nogas	feet, legs (also used in reference to cars)	нога (noga)
nozh	knife	нож (nož)
nuking	smelling	нюхать (njuxatʹ, “smell, sniff”); also a pun on "nuke"
O
oddy knocky	on one's own	одинокий (odinokij, literally “alone”)
odin	one	один (odin)
okno	window	окно (okno)
oobivat	to kill	убивать (ubivatʹ)
ookadeet	to leave	уходить (uxoditʹ)
ooko	ear	ухо (uxo)
oomny	brainy	умный (umnyj, “clever”)
oozhassny	terrible	ужасный (užasnyj)
oozy	chain	узы (uzy) archaic, high-flown "shackles"
orange	man, person	Malay orang (“man”), whence orang utan (literally “forest man”), orang-pendek
osoosh	to wipe	осушать (osušatʹ, “to dry”)
otchkies	eyeglasses	очки (očki)
P
pan-handle	erection	—
pantalonies	pants, underwear	"pantaloons"; панталоны (pantalony)
pee and em	father and mother	"pa and ma", "pater and mater"
peet	to drink	пить (pitʹ, “pit”)
pishcha	food	пища (pišča)
platch	to cry	плач (plač, noun), плачь (plačʹ, verb imperative)
platties	clothes	платье (platʹje)
pletcho	shoulder	плечо (plečo)
plenny	prisoner	пленный (plennyj, literally “captive”)
plesk	splash	плеск (plesk); plash
plosh	to splash	Onomatopoeia "kerplosh"; plash
plott	body	плоть (plotʹ, “flesh”)
podooshka	pillow	подушка (poduška)
poison	person	Phonetic approximation of person in a Cockney accent
pol	sex	пол (pol, “gender”)
polezny	useful	полезный (poleznyj)
polly	in phrase "pretty polly" = money	Rhyming slang for "lolly"
polyclef	skeleton key	French clef (“key”); Greek poly- (“many”)
pony	to understand	понимать (ponimatʹ, “to understand”)
poogly	frightened	испуганный (ispugannyj, “frightened”), пугливый (puglivyj, “easily scared”)
pooshka	gun	пушка (puška, literally “cannon”), slang "gun"
pop-disc	a record, pop album	—
prestoopnik	criminal	преступник (prestupnik)
pretty polly	money	Rhyming slang for "lolly"
privodeet	to lead somewhere	приводить (privoditʹ)
prod	to produce	—
ptitsa	girl	птица (ptica, “bird”), cf. chick (bird is a common slang in Britain for a (young) woman, but is not used in Russian in this sense)
punchipunching	punching	Reduplication of punching
purplewurple	purple, bruised	Reduplication of purple
pyahnitsa	drunk	пьяница (pʹjanica)
R
rabbit	work	работа (rabota)
rabbiter	worker	работник (rabotnik)
radosty	joy	радость (radostʹ, “joy”)
raskazz	story	рассказ (rasskaz)
rassoodock	mind	рассудок (rassudok)
raz	time	раз (raz, literally “time”), as in "one time, two times"
razdraz	annoy/annoyed	раздраж (razdraž, “irritation”)
razrez	to rip, ripping	разрез (razrez, “a cut”), разрезать (razrezatʹ, “to cut”) impf / pf
rookerful	handful	рука (ruka, “hand, arm”)
rook, rooker	hand	руки pl (ruki)
rot	mouth	рот (rot)
rozz	policeman	rozzer (“policeman”) (Cockney rhyming slang)
rozz-shop	police station	-
rozz-van	police car, police van	-
S
sabog	shoe	сапог (sapog, “boot”), cf French sabot (“shoe”)
sakar	sugar	сахар (saxar), cf English saccharine
sammy	generous	"(Good) Samaritan" (Bible Story)
sarky	sarcastic	English slang, not exclusively Nadsat.
scoteena	beast, cow	скотина (skotina, “cattle”)
shaika	gang	шайка (šajka)
sharp	female	Cockney rhyming slang "sharp and blunt"
sharries	buttocks	шары pl (šary, “spheres, marbles”)
shest	barrier	шест (šest, “pole”)
shilarny	desire	желание (želanije, “desire, wish”)
shive	slice	Probably from shiv
shiyah	neck	Russian шея (šeja), Ukrainian шия (šyja)
shlaga	club, bat	German Schläger (“club, bat”, literally “hitter”)
shlem	helmet	шлем (šlem)
shlagnicked	clubbed	"shlaga" + -ник (-nik, “Russian diminutive”)
shlapa	hat	шляпа (šljapa)
shoom	noise, siren	шум (šum)
shoot	fool	шут (šut, “clown, jester”)
shop-crasting	stealing from a cars and houses
shvat	take	схватить (sxvatitʹ, “grab”)
sicking	vomiting	-
sick up	throw-up, vomit	-
silver-like	shiny
sinny	film, cinema, movie theater	Mutated spelling of "cine"
skazat	to say	сказать (skazatʹ)
skitebird	shithead	Dialect or slang for seagull, known for their loose bowels
skolliwoll	school	Reduplication of school; школа (škola)
skorry	quick, quickly	скорый (skoryj)
skriking	scratching	Blend of strike +‎ scratch
skvat	to grab	схватить (sxvatitʹ)
sladkvat	sweetest	сладкий (sladkij)
sladky	sweet	сладкий (sladkij)
sloochat	to happen	случаться (slučatʹsja)
sloosh, slooshy	to hear, to listen	слушать (slušatʹ, “listen”), слышать (slyšatʹ, “hear”)
slovo	word	слово (slovo)
smarting	damaged, bruised	-
smeck	laugh	смех (smex, “laughter”)
smot	to look	смотреть (smotretʹ)
sneety	dream	сниться (snitʹsja, “to be seen in a dream”)
snoutie	tobacco	From snout, Engl. prison slang for "tobacco" or "cigarette"
snuff it	commit suicide, to die	From the phrase used to put out a lit candle (to snuff it). Not exclusively Nadsat.
sobirat	to pick up	собирать (sobiratʹ)
sod	to fornicate/bugger, fornicator/bugger	Engl. slang; from sodomy, not exclusively nadsat.
sophistos	sophisticated/beautiful people	.
soomka	old woman, old whore	сумка (sumka, “bag”), as in the English slang for old woman
sooka	whore	сука (suka, literally “bitch”), as in the common slang for a whorish or unsavoury woman
soviet	advice, order	совет (sovet, literally “a piece of advice”)
spat, spatchka	to sleep	спать (spatʹ, “to sleep”), спячка (spjačka, “hibernation”)
splodge, splosh	splash	—
spoogy	terrified	испуганный (ispugannyj)
Staja	cell, State Jail	Formed from the beginning of the words "STAte JAil"; cf German Stalag, English stalag. It is also the scholarly transliteration of стая (staja, literally “flock (of birds, of wolves)”).
Steaky Wake	Beef Steak	A childish pronunciation of the word steak.
starry	ancient, old	старый (staryj)
strack	horror	страх (strax, “fear”)
stoolies	chairs	стулья pl (stulʹja) (from стул (stul))
stripey hole	prison	From appearance of bars, or alternatively the striped uniforms once worn by prisoners.
synthemesc	drug	Possibly "synthetic mescaline"
T
tally	waist	талия (talija)
tashtook	handkerchief	From German Taschentuch (literally “pocket-cloth”)
tass	cup	From French tasse or German Tasse
this nochy	tonight	ночь (nočʹ, “night”)
tick-tocker	heart	From the sound of a heartbeat, often "ticker" in English slang.
ticklewickled	grazed	Reduplication of tickle
timps	drums	From English timpani
tolchock	punch, hit, smack, push, slap	толчок (tolčok)
toofles	slippers	туфли (tufli, “shoes”)
tree	three	три (tri)
U
ultra-violence	An umbrella term for the assorted violent crimes perpetrated by the setting's youth gangs
V
vareet	to cook up, to think, an idea	варить (varitʹ, literally “to cook by boiling”)
vaysay	washroom	From French pronunciation of w.-c. (“water closet”)
veck	person, man, fellow	человек (čelovek, “person, man”)
vehina	wine	вино (vino)
vellocet	drug	Probably fabricated; '-cet' is a common ending of painkillers (e.g., percocet, ultracet). Possibly from speed (velocity), which is slang for the drug amphetamine or possibly suggested by the British motorcycle manufacturers Velocette.
veshch	thing	вещь (veščʹ)
viddy	see	видеть (videtʹ, “to see”)
vino	wine (also used as blood)	вино (vino). Not exclusively Nadsat.
voloss	hair	волос (volos, “a hair”); волосы pl (volosy, “hair”)
von	smell	вонь (vonʹ, “stench”)
vred	to harm or damage	вред (vred, “harm”), вредить (vreditʹ, “to harm”)
W
warbles	songs, recordings	From the English word warble (“to sing”). (As in the birds known as "warblers")
worldcast	satellite TV or shortwave radio broadcast	Blend of world +‎ broadcast
Y
yahma	hole	яма (jama)
yahoodies	Jews	From Arabic يهود pl (yahudi, “Jews”)/ from Hebrew( יהודי- yehudi) Jewish/Jew. Not exclusively Nadsat
yahzick	tongue	язык (jazyk)
yarbles, yarblockos	testicles, possibly "Balls!" from Cockney	яблоко (jabloko, “apple”) (The Russian word doesn't have this meaning, see яйца (jajca, literally “eggs”))
yeckate	to drive	ехать (jexatʹ, “to go (by vehicle)”)
Z
zammechat	remarkable	замечательный (zamečatelʹnyj)
zasnoot	sleep	заснуть (zasnutʹ, “to fall asleep”)
zheena	wife	жена (žena)
zoobies	teeth	зубы pl (zuby)
zvonock	bellpull, doorbell	звонок (zvonok, “doorbell”)
zvook	sound	звук (zvuk)

See also

• {{RQ:Burgess Clockwork Orange}}