[Grammar] One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

[kadioguy]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(film)
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I don't understand the blue part. I assume that it means One (who) Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. What do you think? (Or does it mean in this way: One (person) Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

I mean, what does the title want to say?

 

[GoesStation]

I haven't read the book (an oversight that I really ought to correct), but I assume the title is the end of a ditty or a song. It would describe the actions of several creatures: one did this, one did that, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest. Google tells me I've guessed right.

 

[bubbha]

The title of the book comes from a children's rhyme that includes the following lines:

"One flew east, one flew west,
One flew over the cuckoo's nest."

The rhyme refers to geese. "One (of the geese) flew east, ..."

In Chinese, "one" would be 一隻.

 

[Tdol]

And cuckoos are most famous for not making nests.

 

[emsr2d2]

I haven't read the book ...

Rectify that situation pronto! It's a fantastic book. And, just for once, it's a great book that was also turned into a great film.

 

[GoesStation]

Likewise for Sometimes a Great Notion.

 

[kadioguy]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(film)
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I mean, what does the title want to say?

I found another possible and reasonable answer (I think):

cuckoo
informal A mad person.
https://www.lexico.com/definition/cuckoo

 

[kadioguy]

Bubbha gave the correct answer in post 3.

That's true. But considering the plot and background of the story, it is possible that "cuckoo" here contains a double meaning:

The film stars Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy, a new patient at a mental institution ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(film)

[spoiler* deleted by moderator]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo's_Nest_(film)#Plot


* information about the plot of a motion picture or TV program that can spoil a viewer's sense of surprise or suspense
(Merriam-Webster)

 

[jutfrank]

It's more than possible.

 

[Tdol]

Rectify that situation pronto! It's a fantastic book. And, just for once, it's a great book that was also turned into a great film.

I saw Ken Kesey on tour and it was such a disappointment. I was hoping to see something of the great writer and I got a cantankerous old git with some very embarrassing views.