bollocks

''Bollocks'' () is a word of Middle English origin, meaning "testicles". The word is often used figuratively in British English and Hiberno-English in a multitude of negative ways; it most commonly appears as a noun meaning "rubbish" or "nonsense", an expletive following a minor accident or misfortune, or an adjective to describe something that is of poor quality or useless. It is also used in common phrases like "bollocks to this", which is said when quitting a task or job that is too difficult or negative, and "that's a load of old bollocks", which generally indicates contempt for a certain subject or opinion. Conversely, the word also appears in positive phrases such as "the dog's bollocks" or more simply "the bollocks", which will refer to something which is admired or well-respected.

Etymology

The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED) gives examples of its usage dating back to the 13th century. One of the early references is Wycliffe's Bible (1382), Leviticus xxii, 24: "Al beeste, that ... kitt and taken awey the ''ballokes'' is, ye shulen not offre to the Lord ..." (any beast that is cut and taken away the ''bollocks'', you shall not offer to the Lord, i.e. castrated animals are not suitable as sacrifices).

The ''OED'' states (with abbreviations expanded): "Probably a derivative of Teutonic ''ball-'', of which the Old English representative would be inferred as ''beall-u'', ''-a'', or ''-e''". The Teutonic ''ball-'' in turn probably derives from the Proto-Indo-European base ''*bhel-'', to inflate or swell. This base also forms the root of many other words, including "phallus".

Meaning "nonsense"

From the 17th to the 19th century, ''bollocks'' or ''ballocks'' was allegedly used as a slang term for a clergyman, although this meaning is not mentioned by the ''OED''s 1989 edition. For example, in 1684, the Commanding Officer of the Straits Fleet regularly referred to his chaplain as "''Ballocks''". It has been suggested that ''bollocks'' came to have its modern meaning of "nonsense" because some clergymen were notorious for talking nonsense during their sermons. According to Merriam Webster the term has been used before the 12th century.

Severity

Originally, the word "bollocks" was the everyday vernacular word for testicles—as noted above, it was used in this sense in the first English-language Bible, in the 14th century. By the mid-17th century, at least, it had begun to acquire coarse figurative meanings (see ), for example in a translation of works by Rabelais.

It did not appear in Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary of the English language. It was also omitted from the 1933 ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and its 1941 reprint, finally appearing in the 1972 supplement. The first modern English dictionary to include an entry for "bollocks" was G. N. Garmonsway's Penguin English Dictionary of 1965.

The relative severity of the various profanities, as perceived by the British public, was studied on behalf of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, Independent Television Commission, BBC and Advertising Standards Authority. The results of this jointly commissioned research were published in December 2000 in a paper called "Delete Expletives?". This placed "bollocks" in eighth position in terms of its perceived severity, between "prick" (seventh place) and "arsehole" (ninth place). By comparison, the word "balls" (which has some similar meanings) was down in 22nd place. Of the people surveyed, 25% thought that "bollocks" should not be broadcast at all, and only 11% thought that it could acceptably be broadcast at times before the national 9 pm " watershed" on television (radio does not have a watershed). 25% of the people regarded "bollocks" as "very severe", 32% "quite severe", 34% "mild" and 8% considered it "not swearing".

A survey of the language of London teenagers (published in 2002) examined, amongst other things, the incidence of various swearwords in their speech. It noted that the top ten swearwords make up 81% of the total swearwords. "Bollocks" was the seventh most frequent swearword, after "fucking", "shit", "fuck", "bloody", "hell" and "fuck off". Below "bollocks" were "bastard", "bitch" and "damn", in eighth, ninth and tenth places. This research regarded these words as swearwords in the context of their usage but observed that some might be inoffensive in other contexts.

Some campaigners, particularly the Liberal Democrats, hoping to stop the UK's departure from the European Union have adopted the slogan, "Bollocks to Brexit". When queried about the propriety of the use of this term in Parliament in January 2019, the Speaker of the House, John Bercow ruled that the use of the word in Parliamentary speech was "not disorderly".

Negative uses

"Talking bollocks" and "bollockspeak"

"Talking ''bollocks''" generally means talking nonsense or ''bullshit'', for example: "Don't listen to him, he's talking ''bollocks''", or "talking absolute ''bollocks''". Another example is "I told Maurice that he was talking bollocks, that he was full of shit and that his opinions were a pile of piss. (Rhetoric was always my indulgence.)" "Talking ''bollocks''" in a corporate context is referred to as ''bollockspeak''. ''Bollockspeak'' tends to be buzzword-laden and largely content-free, like gobbledygook: "Rupert, we'll have to leverage our synergies to facilitate a paradigm shift by Q4" is an example of management ''bollockspeak''. There is a whole parodic book entitled ''The Little Book of Management Bollocks''. When a great deal of bollocks is being spoken, it may be said that the 'bollocks quotient' is high.

A "bollocks" (singular noun)

Comparable to ''cock-up'', ''screw-up'', ''balls-up'', etc. Used with the indefinite article, it means a disaster, a mess or a failure. It is often used pejoratively, as in to have "made a ''bollocks'' out of it", and it is generally used throughout Britain and Ireland.

Bollocks up (transitive verb)

''To bollocks something up'' means "to mess something up". It refers to a botched job: "Well, you ''bollocksed'' it up that time, Your Majesty!" or "''Bollocksed'' up at work again, I fear. Millions down the drain".

To "drop a bollock"

''To "drop a bollock"'' describes the malfunction of an operation, or messing something up, as in many sports, and in more polite business parlance, ''dropping the ball'' brings play to an unscheduled halt.

Bollocking

Noun

A ''"bollocking"'' usually denotes a robust verbal chastisement for something which one has done (or not done, as the case may be), for instance: "I didn't do my homework and got a right ''bollocking'' off Mr Smith", or "A nurse was assisting at an appendix operation when she shouldn't have been ... and the surgeon got a ''bollocking''". Actively, one ''gives'' or ''delivers'' a bollocking to someone; in the building trade one can 'throw a right bollocking into' someone.

The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives the earliest meaning as "to slander or defame" and suggests that it entered the English language from the 1653 translation of one of Rabelais' works, which includes the Middle French expression "en couilletant", translated as "ballocking". The earliest printed use in the sense of a severe reprimand is, according to the OED, from 1946.

Adjective

''Bollocking'' can also be used as a reinforcing adjective: "He hasn't a ''bollocking'' clue!" or "Where's me ''bollocking'' car?"

"A kick in the bollocks"

''"A kick in the bollocks"'' is used to describe a significant setback or disappointment, e.g. "I was diagnosed with having skin cancer. Ye Gods! What a kick in the bollocks".

"Freeze (or work) one's bollocks off"

To freeze one's bollocks off means to be very cold. To "work one's bollocks off" is to work very hard. This phrase is also sometimes used by or about women: Boy George referred to his mother "working her bollocks off" at home.

"Bollock naked"

"''Bollock naked''" is used in the singular form to emphasise being completely nude: "he was completely pissed and stark ''bollock naked''".

Bollocks (singular noun)

In Ireland, ''"bollocks"'', ''"ballocks"'' or ''"bollox"'' can be used as a singular noun to mean a despicable or notorious person, for instance: "Who's the old ''ballocks'' you were talking to?", or conversely as a very informal term of endearment.

"Bollocksed"

Multiple meanings, also spelled "''bolloxed''" or "''bollixed''":
# Exhausted: "I couldn't sleep at all last night, I'm completely ''bollocksed''!"
# Broken: "My foot pump is ''bollocksed''."
# An extreme state of inebriation or drug-induced stupor: "Last night I got completely ''bollocksed''".
# Hungover (or equivalent): "I drank two bottles of gin last night, I'm completely ''bollocksed''."
# Made a mistake: "I tried to draw that landscape, but I ''bollocksed'' it up."

The phrase "bollocksed up" means to be in a botched, bungled, confused or disarrayed state; e.g. "He managed to bollix up the whole project." In the printing and newspaper industries, dropping a California Job type case of moveable type spilling the contents was a classic example of "bollocksing up the works". The box was called "pied". "Bollocksed" in that sense meant "beyond all repair".

Web design

"Dog's bollocks syndrome" is a term used by web designers to describe over-designed websites that have more flash than might be needed or justified.

Positive uses

"Dog's bollocks"

A usage with a positive (albeit still vulgar) sense is "the dog's bollocks" or simplified "The Bollocks".Dog's bollocks – meaning and origin
phrases.org.uk, Viz magazine 1989: ''"Viz: the dog's bollocks: the best of issues 26 to 31".'' An example of this usage is: "Before Tony Blair's speech, a chap near me growled: 'He thinks he's the 'dog's bollocks'. Well, he's entitled to. It was a commanding speech: a real 'dog's bollocks' of an oration."

Although this is a recent term (the ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' dates it to 1989,) its origins are obscure. Etymologist Eric Partridge and the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' believe the term comes from the now obsolete typographical sequence of a colon and a dash :-. This typography, using a dash following a colon -:, was used to introduce a list. Thus, it is a very early example of an emoticon.

The Oxford English Dictionary says the following mark (":— ") is entitled "the dog’s bollocks", defined as: "typogr. a colon followed by a dash, regarded as forming a shape resembling the male sexual organs." The usage is cited to the year 1949.

This phrase has found its way into popular culture in a number of ways. There is a beer brewed in England by the Wychwood Brewery called the Dog's Bollocks, as well as a lager cocktail.

The Dutch city Groningen has a pub-style café named "The dog's bollocks".

"Chuffed to one's bollocks"

The phrase ''"chuffed to one's bollocks"'' describes someone who is very pleased with themselves. Nobel laureate Harold Pinter used this in ''The Homecoming'' The phrase provided a serious challenge to translators of his work. Pinter used a similar phrase in an open letter, published in ''The Guardian'', and addressed to Prime Minister Tony Blair, attacking his co-operation with American foreign policy. The letter ends by saying "Oh, by the way, meant to mention, forgot to tell you, we were all ''chuffed to the bollocks'' when Labour won the election."

Other uses

* ''"Bollock-head"'' is a vulgar British term for a shaven head. It can also refer to someone who is stupid, as can ''"bollock-brain"''. ''The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1811) cites the expression "His brains are in his ''ballocks''", to designate a fool.

Rhyming slang

The rhyming slang for ''bollocks'' is "''Jackson Pollocks''". It can be shortened to ''Jacksons'', as in "Modern art? Pile o' ''Jacksons'' if you ask me!". ''Sandra Bullocks'' is occasionally used to approximate rhyming slang; it does not quite rhyme, but preserves meter and rhythm. The Beautiful South bowdlerised their original line "''sweaty bollocks''" as "''Sandra Bullocks''", as one of several changes to make their song "Don't Marry Her" acceptable for mainstream radio play.

"Horlicks"

The term ''"Horlicks"'' was brought to prominence in July 2003, when then-British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw used it to describe irregularities in the preparation and provenance of the " dodgy dossier" regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Straw used the expression "a complete ''Horlicks''", instead of the more impolite "make a complete ''bollocks'' of something". This euphemism stems from an advertising campaign for the Horlicks malt drink, where people were seen to be shouting ''"Horlicks!"'' in a loud voice, to give vent to stress or frustration. Eric Morecambe was also known to cough ''"Horlicks!"'' behind his hand on The Morecambe and Wise Show.

Rowlocks/rowlocking

''Rollocking'' is sometimes used as a euphemism for ''"bollocking"''. A ''rollocking bollocking'' may be delivered by an electorate.

Bollards

The 2007 ''Concise new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English'' quotes "bollards" as meaning "testicles" and that it is a play on the word bollocks.

Literature

The play '' Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery'', published in 1684 and ascribed to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, includes a character named Bolloxinion, King of Sodom (along with other characters with names such as General Buggeranthos and the maid of honour, Fuckadilla). The word ''bollox'' appears several times in the text, such as:

In 1690, the publisher Benjamin Crayle was fined 20 pounds and sent to prison for his part in publishing the play.

In one of the tales in Burton's 1885 translation of ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'', Kafur, the eunuch, says:

Obscenity court ruling

Perhaps the best-known use of the term is in the title of the 1977 punk rock album ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols''. Testimony in a resulting prosecution over the term demonstrated that in Old English, the word referred to a priest, and could also be used to mean "nonsense". Defence barrister John Mortimer QC and Virgin Records won the case: the court ruled that the word was not obscene. It just means "put aside all of that other rubbish and pay attention to this". In a summary for the defence, Mortimer asked,

Tony Wright, a Leicestershire trader, was given an £80 fixed penalty fine by police for selling T-shirts bearing the slogan "Bollocks to Blair". This took place on 29 June 2006 at the Royal Norfolk Show; the police issued the penalty notice, quoting Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 which refers to language "deemed to cause harassment, alarm or distress".

See also

*'' Art Bollocks''
*Bullock (disambiguation)
* A load of old cobblers
* Wikisaurus:testicles

References

Notes

Citations

{{Reflist, 30em

British English idioms
Interjections
English profanity
Testicle
English words