noun General Slang

Cutter

/ˈkʌtə/ · noun · slang

Nadsat for money or cash, one of its few non-Russian terms.

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Definitions

1

A reminder that Burgess salted Nadsat with Cockney and rhyming-slang elements alongside the Russian core.

“Cutter shows Nadsat is not pure Russian but a mongrel argot.”
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2

Used for funds in general, from pocket change to a robbery's takings.

“No cutter, no moloko, no night out.”
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3

In Nadsat, cutter means money or cash. Unlike most of Nadsat, it is not from Russian; its exact source is uncertain, sometimes linked to rhyming slang ('bread and butter' for money) or older English slang for coin.

“They robbed the shop for a bit of cutter.”
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Cutter In A Sentence

We need some cutter before the bars close.
He flashed a roll of cutter to impress the devotchka.
All that risk for so little cutter.

Origin & Usage

Used by Burgess in A Clockwork Orange (1962). Its origin is uncertain and debated: it is often tied to rhyming slang 'bread and butter' (money) rather than Russian, illustrating Burgess's mixing of Cockney elements into Nadsat. Treat the precise derivation as unsettled.

Variants cutter
Tags #nadsat#clockwork-orange#fictional#literary#money

People Also Ask

What does cutter mean in Nadsat?

It means money or cash, one of Nadsat's non-Russian terms.

Where does cutter come from?

The exact source is uncertain; it is often linked to rhyming slang 'bread and butter' rather than Russian.

Is all of Nadsat from Russian?

No. The core is Russian, but Burgess blended in Cockney and rhyming slang, and cutter is an example.

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