Here’s a list of some of the weird vocab in this book! Obviously this isn’t all of them, so go ahead and add some to the comments if you find others.
Chelloveck- man, person
Devotchkas- girls
Droog- guy, man
Horrorshow- sick, good, intense
Glazzies- eyes
Goloss- speak
Keeshkas- guts
Knives- drugs
Koshka- cat
Litso- face
Malchick- man
Malenky- little, small
Milicents- police
Moloko- milk
Nadmenny- arrogant
Peet- drink
Platties- clothes
Plenny- prisoner
Plott- body
Pooshka- gun
Pop Disc- record
Prestoopnik- criminal
Pretty Polly- money
Ptista- girl
Rassoodock- mind
Skorry- quickly
Slovo- word
Starry- old, ancient
Veck- man
Ultra Violence- extreme violence
Viddy- see
I think it's pretty interesting how some of the words are just impossible to make sense of without context, while some of them are English words, just used in a different dialect. Also keeping in mind that this book was written in the 60's, looking at this list helps me make a connection between the Soviet Union and the USA and how this book seeks to blend their societies into one.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely the connection is there! And also a sense of youth culture - slang has existed forever and changes very quickly with technology, trends, and fads. Maalana, I'm wondering what you think about these words?!
ReplyDeleteWhen I started reading this book I thought it was almost impossible to understand. But as I kept reading, it was almost like the book taught me how to read itself. The weird words started becoming more familiar and the pages started flowing a lot more naturally. This just shows the skill in writing Burgess has, to make something that makes literally no sense make complete sense is something very few people have achieved in literature.
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