Apr 18, 2018 12:16
6 yrs ago
Swedish term

volta

Swedish to English Law/Patents Law (general) prison slang
What I'm looking for here is an English prison slang equivalent to the Swedish slang term "göra en volta" - meaning serving a prison sentence. When you have served a sentence, you have "gjort en volta". If you have served two sentences, you have "gjort två voltor" and so on.

Proposed translations

1 day 3 hrs
Selected

stretch

Another option and one that would allow you to mirror the Swedish usage done/served two stretches, etc.
As Matt says, there are several options, as well as different options for the UK and the US.

Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Imprisonment; a prison sentence bird; birdlime; bit; carpet; double sawbuck; fall; handful; hard; jolt; Kathleen Mavourneen; lag; moon; neves; newspaper; Paddy Doyle; pontoon; porridge; rouf; sawbuck; seg; sleep; sixer; solitary; spot; stage; stretch; taxi; time; trey; trick
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KT-cAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA382&dq...

13 sentence/​term of
lagging, time, bird-lime, penal, bit, spot, sleep, jolt, prison sentence, bird, rap, trick, fall, stretch, custodial sentence, porridge
http://historicalthesaurus.arts.gla.ac.uk/category/?type=sea...

Dictionary of Crime: Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Law Enforcement by Jay Robert Nash
do a bit To serve a short jail sentence. AKA: do a hitch; do a jolt; do a piece; do a stretch
https://www.google.co.uk/search?complete=0&biw=927&bih=845&e...

http://www.eurekaencyclopedia.com/index.php/Category:Custodi...

White Jazz by James Ellroy
Mickey Cohen-perpetual scuffler-two prison jolts. Dead – heart attack, '76
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=p8VMgoWcmVMC&pg=PA402&lp...
Mickey Cohen – den kämpen–två voltor. Död – hjärtattack evige 1976
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ms3KBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT395&lp...

Possibly also of interest, from Resandefolket by Bo Hazell
volta = gå, promenera, resa; gång ...
Används även om fängelsestraff: »Jag går (gör) min andra volta(omgång, »resa«) på fängelset.«
https://www.google.co.uk/search?complete=0&biw=927&bih=873&t...
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot! In this case, stretch works better as it is a noun."
+1
9 mins

done bird/time

There are several of options for this, but saying 'I've done bird' is one of them, e.g. 'I've done bird three times." Apparently it's cockney rhyming slang for bird-lime, time (i.e. I've done time).
Note from asker:
Thank you for your suggestion, but in this case "stretch" works better in relation to the rest of the text (as it is a noun).
Peer comment(s):

agree Alison MacG
1 day 3 hrs
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2 hrs

enjoyed Her Majesty's hospitality

:o)
Note from asker:
Thank you for your suggestion, but in this case "stretch" works better in relation to the rest of the text (as it is a noun).
Something went wrong...
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