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A

Anti-Tory

An individual that opposes the Conservative Party (often referred to as the Tory Party) in the United Kingdom. According to Fowles being anti-tory is a marker of decency and moral integrity. He associates leftist political views with compassion and progressiveness, implying that those who align themselves with the Tory ideology are somehow lacking in these traits.

Анти-тори

I know he’s wrong somewhere (he was exaggerating). One must be on the Left. Every decent
person I’ve ever met has been anti-Tory

[Fowles, 2024, p. 92].

B

Beatnik

A representative of the spontaneous, anarchic rebellious youth movement in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century in England and the USA. Young people belonging to this field were often characterized as parasites, wandering around the city or sitting in coffee shops and bars. Beatniks were also mistaken for students of art academies because of the similarity in appearance of black turtlenecks, berets and black, impenetrable glasses. This term often had a negative connotation.

Битник

 I went into that coffee-bar, suddenly, I don’t know why, like I was drawn in by something else,

against my will almost. It was full of people, students and artists and such-like; they mostly had that

beatniks look. I remember there were weird faces and things on the walls. It was supposed to be

African, I think

[Fowles, 2024, p. 5].

C

Cezanne

 Paul Cézanne was a French artist and post-impressionist painter whose work laid the groundwork for the transition from 19th-century art to the modern art of the 20th century. He is often referred to as one of the most significant figures in the history of Western art.

He came up with an innovative approach when the objects are not depicted from the only one viewpoint. The great example is his painting “Still Life with Skull” (1898).

Cézanne used multiple perspectives, giving the piece a dynamic, almost three-dimensional effect.

Поль Сезанн

 She went and got a book of pictures by Cezanne.

“There,” she said, pointing to a coloured one of a plate of apples. “He’s not only saying everything

there is about the apples, but everything about all apples and all form and colour.”

I take your word for it, I said. All your pictures are nice, I said

[Fowles, 2024, p. 31].

Daddy’s Darling

A woman, who has a close, possibly dependent relationship with older men, particularly in a financial or social sense.

Папина душечка

There
were the few of us who cared, and there were the silly ones, the snobbish ones, the would-be
debutantes and the daddy’s darlings and the horsophiles and the sex-cats.

Horsophile

A young woman who is greedy for clothes and rags.

Тряпичница

Sex-Cat

A woman, who is perceived as promiscuous or who flaunt her sexuality, similar to other slang terms for similar concepts. It could imply a playful or provocative attitude towards sexuality.

Сексапильная кошечка

Would-Be
Debutante

17. A young woman who aspires or ambitions to be debutantes but may not have the qualities, upbringing, or refinement typically associated with this status.

Потенциальная дебютантка

Dim Noddle

A stupid person.

This word belongs to the group of derogatory slang and often used to insult someone's intelligence, suggesting that they lack the mental capacity to comprehend basic concepts or make intelligent decisions.

Noddle is derived from the word “to nod”. The word appeared from familiar for everyone school situation when someone in the class is called out to answer a trivial question but he or she is unable to give the right answer. The teacher decides to give a hint, and the person starts to nod to show his or her full agreement and pretend that the answer was on the tip of the tongue.

Тупица

He has it fixed
in his poor dim noddle that art is fiddling away (he can’t understand why I don’t “rub out”) until you
get an exact photographic likeness…

[Fowles, 2024, p. 103].

E

Emma Woodhouse

 A character from Jane Austen’s novel, who is very well-known for her close-to-life character.

J. Fowles more than once confessed that he used Emma’s character as a prototype for his Miranda because Emma has the characteristic of being the liveliest character with a believable, changing personality and a distinctive thirst for knowledge.

Эмма Вудхаус

I sent him away after supper and I’ve been finishing Emma. I am Emma Woodhouse. I feel for her,
of her and in her. I have a different sort of snobbism, but I understand her snobbism [Fowles, 2024, p. 73].

G

Gestapo

Gestapo was Nazi Germany’s infamous political police force. It operated on the territory of Germany and occupied countries between 1933 and 1945. It was a reliably brutal and cruel tool that enforces and spread Nazism’s regime.

The name Gestapo derived from German “Geheime Staatspolizei.” what translates in English like “Secret state Police”

The Gestapo people earned their notorious reputation for using torture and violence in interrogations. Together with the SS, the Gestapo managed the extermination of “inferior races,” such as Jews and Roma (Gypsies) – The Holocaust.

Гестапо

I never let her have a radio or television. It happened one day before she came, I was reading a book called Secrets of the Gestapo —all about the tortures and so on they had to do in the war, and how one of the first things to put up with if you were a prisoner was not knowing what was going on outside the prison

[Fowles, 2024, p. 22].

L

La-Di-Da Voice

Snobbish or elitist voice

The word is of English origin, despite its similarity in sound to the French language. In fact, it comes from an earlier form of lardy-dardy, which was quoted in The Amateur's Magazine in London in 1959: "Such an absurd palaver, and lardy-dardy talk...".

It is believed that such word may have roots in the British upper-class language of the time, where it was used as a mocking imitation of the way certain people spoke.

Жеманный голос

I heard her mother speak once in a shop, she had a la-di-da voice, and you could see she was the type to drink

[Fowles, 2024, p. 1].

Lameduck

To take care of a person who is unsuccessful and needs help.

The term came from the London Stock Market and referred to investors who were unable to pay their debts.

Nowadays this lexeme can be applied to politicians who are known to be in their final term of office, when colleagues and electors look toward a successor. It is also sometimes used to describe officeholders who have lost an election but have not yet left office.

Опекать

Today I decided that I would organize a little party tomorrow night. I shall say I feel differently towards him, that I want to be his friend and lameduck him in London

[Fowles, 2024, p. 96].

N

Nielsen Woman

A very boring and uninteresting woman. A Nielsen is typically someone who lacks any sort of enthusiasm or passion for anything in life

It comes from the name of the Nielsen ratings system, which measures the popularity of television shows.

Like how the Nielsen ratings system gauges the popularity of television programs, the term Nielsen is also used to indicate a person's lack of popularity and interest.

Нильсен

And I’ll write about the strange talk I
had with the Nielsen woman

[Fowles, 2024, p. 83].

P

Posh

Typical of people who belong to a high social class. The term originated in England and was often used to describe members of the upper class who had a certain style and sophistication about them.

One of the versions of the origin of posh refers to the acronym "port out, starboard home." This term relates to ship cabins on voyages between England and India. The most sought-after cabins were located on the port side for eastbound journeys (outward) and the starboard side for westbound trips (homeward). These premium cabins were typically reserved for affluent travelers, and the word "posh" might have originated from this practice.

Элитный ресторан

 I remember a night we went out and had supper at a posh restaurant. It was on a list the pools people gave us. It was good food, we ate it but I hardly tasted it because of the way people looked at us and the way the slimy foreign waiters and everybody treated us, and how everything in the room seemed to look down at us because we weren’t brought up their way

[Fowles, 2024, p. 3].

Q

(on the) Q.T.

Confidential(ly);
secret(ly); 

"QT" is an abbreviation of quiet. Though its exact beginnings are unclear, the phrase gained widespread use in 1920s America, when Prohibition forced people to communicate discreetly – often relying on coded slang to evade authorities.

Тайком

...though Uncle Dick used to go to the pub on the q.t. sometimes

[Fowles, 2024, p. 3].

R

Rhubarb

The term comes from in the theatrical practice consisting of a group of actors repeating the word “rhubarb” to represent an indistinct background conversation or the noise of a crowd. 

The action was called rhubarbing and the actors rhubarbers. This technique was used to create the impression of a busy street or market, without the need for too many actors on stage.

So, applying this lexeme to real life a dialogue or a fuss or commotion, typically around something relatively trivial appeared.

Кисло-сладкий тягучий разговор

She would take me for coffee. I was silly, I should have lied. It was all rhubarb, about me, about her
daughter, about art

[Fowles, 2024, p. 88].

S

Shall I Be Mother?

One of the comforting phrases of the British way of tea. It is deeply embedded in the foodways of Anglophone tea, and means, more or less, ‘I volunteer to pour out the tea from the teapot’. Being ‘mother’ means taking charge of the teapot and being responsible for pouring tea into cups, adding milk as required and ect.

Помочь тебе?

The kettle boiling and her there. Of course I
kept a sharp eye on her. When it was made, I said, shall I be mother?
“That’s a horrid expression.”

[Fowles, 2024, p. 29].

T

The Tempest

“The Tempest” is a play by W. Shakespeare.

J. Fowles chose this play for comparison and used the same names for the main characters in order to represent the opposition of the Few and the Many. In Shakespeare’s play Miranda is a symbol of purity, beauty and kindness while Caliban collects ignorance and brutality.

Fowles wanted to show that Frederic-Caliban is a specimen of the Many and his behavior is the result of a lousy education, a squalid environment, and orphanhood. Miranda, thanks to good education, innate abilities and quick thinking, has a grain of the Few’s kindness.

Пьеса «Буря» У. Шекспира

Reading The Tempest again all afternoon. Not the same at all, now what’s
happened has happened. The pity Shakespeare feels for his Caliban, I feel (beneath the hate and
disgust) for my Caliban. Half-creatures

[Fowles, 2024, p. 109].

W

Wotchermercallit

This expression comes from the British colloquial language and the full form of it sounds like “what do you call it?” People might say "wotchermercallit" when they can't remember the name of something, like saying "thingamajig" or "whatchamacallit."

Как это там называется?

I bet you’d look smashing in a wotchermercallit, he said.

I looked puzzled. One of those French swimming things, he said.

A bikini? I asked Fowles, 2024, p. 84].