чертик

[serialcondition.livejournal.com]

hello,

I have a question about understanding a sentence I'm translating...

...лихорадочные спазмы, в которых тонет фабула, как чертики, появляются и исчезают герои

this is about Moskva-Petushki; the word чертик used here -- would it be a reference to the phrase "напиться до чёртиков"? Or is it something else? I'm at a loss.

thank you,
t.

EDIT: thank you everyone

Comments

[serialcondition.livejournal.com]

unless it is Ukrainian

t.

[mildox.livejournal.com]

or
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Язык_падонков

[wire-shock.livejournal.com]

чорт is just the old spelling, so you can see it in books printed before the ...er... like, the middle of the 20th century.