Nadsat — A Clockwork Orange Slang
The fictional teen argot Anthony Burgess built for A Clockwork Orange (1962) — mostly anglicised Russian, spiced with Cockney rhyming slang and Romani. A constructed argot, distinct from the organic ones, but endlessly searched by readers.
22 words
Nadsat for the face, from the Russian 'litso'.
Nadsat for a razor, the gang's weapon of choice, from the Russian 'britva'.
Nadsat for people, from the Russian 'lyudi'.
The invented teen argot of A Clockwork Orange, named from the Russian suffix '-nadtsat' (-teen).
Nadsat for a woman, literally 'bird' in Russian, echoing British slang 'bird'.
Nadsat for an old woman, from the Russian 'babushka' (grandmother).
Nadsat for milk, the drink of choice at the Korova Milk Bar, from Russian 'moloko'.
Nadsat for a man or guy, clipped from chelloveck and the Russian 'chelovek' (person).
Nadsat for the head, anglicised from the Russian 'golova'.
Nadsat for good, excellent, or first-rate, a pun on the Russian 'khorosho'.
Nadsat for to speak or talk, from the Russian 'govorit'.
Nadsat for a girl or young woman, from the Russian 'devochka'.
Nadsat for a blow or to hit, from the Russian 'tolchok', a push or shove.
Nadsat for mad, crazy, or insane, from the Russian 'bezumny'.
Nadsat for to hear or listen, from the Russian 'slushat'.
Nadsat for old or ancient, from the Russian 'stary'.
Nadsat for the hand or arm, from the Russian 'ruka'.
Nadsat for money or cash, one of its few non-Russian terms.
Nadsat for to see or to watch, from the Russian 'videt'.
A Nadsat word for a friend or running mate, anglicised from the Russian for friend.
Nadsat for blood, from the Russian 'krov'.
Nadsat for a boy or young man, from the Russian 'malchik'.