Chapter 2.4.
RNDA-DRNDA: Definition
Being my favorite pre-stroke universal buzzword, it is a grammatically unchangeable expression that doesn’t mean anything by itself. Its main ingredient is a rarely and colloquially used noun: drnda (en. knick-knack) which indicates something shabby, worn out, used up, or ramshackle. (Hence my webwide nick: drnda42 or dr.Nda! A certain book character bears a similar name, but about this later.)
However, when used as a shorter form of the phrase rnda-drnda, it can function as a joker noun in discourse, enriching the language, adding another (but okay, somewhat confusing) solution with the possible use of a demonstrative pronoun. (I was never really sure about left and right; it always seemed to be missing the “according to what,” so I find it more precise to say “over there” and somehow suggest the direction.)
So, when the speaker wants to quickly express a complex thing (or a simple term but, due to the conversation’s pace, can’t remember the appropriate word), a simple solution could be to insert a demonstrative pronoun and the joker-noun, naturally—hoping that the audience was listening carefully and were intelligent enough to be able to discern what it’s about from the context. Overly using the phrase rnda-drnda indicates the speaker’s sloppiness or distraction, and sometimes Alzheimer’s or simply senile dementia (in that case, the encouraging fact is that the person can at least remember that particular word).
But it can also indicate aphasia or some other related pathological speech impairment. Moderate use means that the speaker has too many associations going on in his mind but cannot afford any digression because he has to act fast (this can, as we said, indicate a milder form of aphasia). The word implies a higher level of communication—non-verbal communication (without any means of body language), which requires active participation from everyone that takes part in it, almost telepathy. For example, a surgeon is performing a highly complex surgery; the procedure runs smoothly, and everything goes according to plan. When suddenly—the patient’s artery ruptures! Blood is spouting all around, painting the walls; the surgeon can’t even see what he’s doing anymore. And what’s more, he freezes and, in all the commotion, says to his assistant, “Knick-knack that up!”Cro. “Zdrndaj to!“ and to the scrub nurse: “Give me the knick-knack!”Cro. “Drndu!“ The assistant suctions the location, and the scrub nurse hands him the clamp…
We just saw in an example how the root of the word drnda (so—drnd) could also be used as a root for verbs (in the form of drndatiLiterally, “to knick-knack something”, imperfective aspect., or zdrndatiPerfective aspect: “to have knick-knacked” something.) or adjective/adverb (for example, drndavo [knick-knacking/ly]) or some other noun (for example, drndarija [knick-knackery]). Of course, even morphological knick-knacks are possible—in compliance with a particular language’s grammar and current orthography (orthographies). It is applicable in all languages, but—the nimblest use of it is in the Croatian language (and in other Slavic ones). Naturally, a knick-knacked word’s semantic dimension depends heavily on the context!