Nadsat

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fictional language featured in Anthony Burgess's novel, characterized by a mix of Russian and English vernacular
2. A unique sociolect used by the youth in a dystopian setting, blending slang with influences from Slavic languages
3. A stylistic linguistic form that creates a distinct identity for characters in a literary work, often conveying rebellion and youth culture

Etymology: Anthony Burgess invented nadsat in 1962 for his dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange, and the word itself is the slang's own name. It is borrowed from Russian "-надцать" ("-nadcatʹ"), the suffix used for the numbers eleven through nineteen, so that "nadsat" derives from the Russian for "-teen." Burgess built the teenage argot of his narrator Alex and his gang largely on that Russian foundation, a fitting choice for a novel about youth violence in a futuristic Britain. In the novel, the narrator explains the dialect to a sceptical listener with a line that doubles as a joke about the slang's own name: when a man is told that his speech is "Written well thou hast," Alex calls this "nadsat talk," adding that all the teens use it. The word therefore labels both the invented language and the youthful voice that speaks it.

Synonyms: teen slang, youth slang, argot

Antonyms: standard language