bedsit
A modified studio apartment that includes a bedroom, a sitting area, and a kitchenette.
bluebottle
An insect similar to the common fly.
bonhomie
Friendliness and camaraderie.
carer
A clone who acts as a nurse and companion to other clones who are undergoing their donations. Clones become carers through an application process; it is unclear whether being a carer actually results in deferring donations.
collection
Students at Hailsham have few possessions, so they put great care into their "collections"––artwork that they buy from other students at the quarterly Exchanges.
complete
A euphemism that the clones use for death. Most clones "complete" after their third or fourth organ donation.
Cottages
After graduating from Hailsham around age 16, the students are sent to live in the Cottages, where young adult clones are allowed to live freely until their donations are scheduled to begin. This is where Kathy and her friends meet non-Hailsham clones for the first time.
Courses
The training that donors must undergo to become carers.
Culture Briefing
A class where older Hailsham students role-play situations they will encounter in the outside world, such as ordering in a restaurant or talking to a police officer.
donor
Most of the characters in Never Let Me Go are clones designed to become "donors"––that is, organ donors. When they reach young adulthood, they are forced to begin a series of organ donations that will eventually kill them.
Exchange
The students at Hailsham are encouraged to create art. Each quarter, they bring their artwork to a special event called an Exchange where they can trade their pieces for those done by other students.
Gallery
Growing up at Hailsham, the students' best artwork was taken away to a mysterious "Gallery" off campus. We later learn that the Gallery was created by a group of activists, including Madame, to demonstrate to the public that the clones are human beings with souls and thus should not have their organs harvested.
guardian
Refers to the adults who run Hailsham and act as both teachers and parent-figures to the children there.
Juniors and Seniors
The children at Hailsham are divided into three classes: Infants, Juniors, and Seniors. Kathy is "thirteen or fourteen" in her Senior 3 year, which suggests that students become seniors in what corresponds to sixth grade in the United States.
lorry
A British word for a truck.
possible
The clones use this slang term to refer to "normal" people who could potentially be the "originals" from which they were modeled.
recovery centre
The buildings where clones are held between donations. Some of them, like Kingsfield, are repurposed hotels or "holiday camps," while others, like the one in Dover, seem to have been built expressly for the recovery of donors.
rounders
A British game similar to baseball.
Sales
At Hailsham, the periodic Sales are the students' only connection to the outside world. At these events, they can use tokens earned for good artwork to buy toys, clothes, and knickknacks. It is unclear where the items at the Sales come from, although they are pre-used which suggests that they are charitable donations from non-clones.
snogging
British slang for heavy kissing.
