queer as a clockwork orange
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Cockney phrase from East London indicating something bizarre internally, but appearing natural and normal on the surface. Author Anthony Burgess appropriated the phrase for the title of his novella A Clockwork Orange.
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Anything more about the origin of the term than 'from East London'?”)
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective[edit]
- (simile) Strange, odd, unusual.
- (simile) Unusually camp, unusually homosexual.
- 1997, Tony Harrison, quoted in Sandie Byrne's introduction to Tony Harrison: Loiner (ed Sandie Byrne, 1997)
- He sauntered the flunkied restaurant, queer /As a clockwork orange and not scared. /God, I was grateful for the nights we shared.
- 1997, Tony Harrison, quoted in Sandie Byrne's introduction to Tony Harrison: Loiner (ed Sandie Byrne, 1997)
Synonyms[edit]
- (strange, unusual): queer as a nine bob note, queer as a three dollar bill, queer as a coot
Translations[edit]
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References[edit]
- Dominic Head (2002) The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction, 1950-2000: “(footnote) Morrison observes that the title is taken from a Cockney expression, 'as queer as a clockwork orange' which means 'very queer indeed', with or without a sexual implication.”