If anyone has read this book, could you give me some suggestions? The slang in A Clockwork Orange is kind of difficult for me to translate, even context clues sometimes I don't help, and I was wondering if it's better to read the book with or without a Clockwork Orange dictionary (dictionary with the book's slang words defined into normal terms).
And if I wanted to read it with a Clockwork Orange dictionary, can anyone direct me to one on the Internet? I can't find one.
2006-10-20 13:04:30 · 5 answers · asked by Darling 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Other - Entertainment
No, read it for the feel of the words because the dictionary will only confuse you. Believe it or not, when you just read it, the book makes sense.
2006-10-20 13:12:47 · answer #1 · answered by heyrobo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Clockwork Orange Dictionary
2016-11-06 19:51:53 · answer #2 · answered by aldin 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
droog
friend (друг drug)
britva
razor (бритва)
chelloveck
person, man (человек chelovek)
cutter
money (most likely from Romani slang)
bog
God (бог)
horrorshow
good, well (хорошо khorosho, "good")
nozh
knife/dagger (нож)
starry ptitsa
old woman (старый staryj, "old"; птица ptitsa, "bird" as in English slang)
in-out-in-out
sex, especially rape (invented)
devotchka
young woman (девочка, "little girl")
gulliver
head (голова golova (but pronounced galavá), "head")
tolchok
to hit, beat up (толчок, "a push/shove")
viddied
viewed, looked upon (видеть videt´, "to see")
Nadsat words are all concrete or semi-abstract: to discuss philosophy Alex would have to shift into normal English. The fact that a teen language has no abstract words is perhaps Burgess' reflection on the shallowness of the juvenile delinquent's thought process.
At least one translation of Burgess' book into Russian ingeniously had the protagonist talk in a slang heavy with transliterated English words, in places where Burgess put Russian ones.
A comprehensive Nadsat lexicon lists the terms used in the book with their origins.
2006-10-20 13:07:31 · answer #3 · answered by Bog woppit. 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hmm, I understood the book pretty well in most cases, but I'm sure a dictionary would help. I would definately recomment using it. If you want to find one, try amazonbooks.com
2006-10-20 13:06:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
saw the movie it was weird
2006-10-20 13:07:09 · answer #5 · answered by cnderellah 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋