the bollocks

14th Century (as 'ballocks') English term which has grown numerous useful applications within today's language: 1. Term of exasperation, often at having made a mistake. 2. As a plural noun, the bollocks are the testicles. 3. Exaggerated truth or blatant lies. 4. Unfathomable rubbish; corporate management speak, e.g. 'blue-sky thinking', 'touch base', and 'thinking outside the box'. 5. Poor or bad effort, esp. with media references. (The more bollocks, the worse the event.) 6. When the bollocks belong to a canine, the inverse meaning of (5.) comes into play, though nobody knows quite why. This meaning appears to date back from 1989. 7. To 'drop a bollock' is to commit a social faux-pas leading to grave embarrassment. 8. A 'bollocking' is a telling off, often by one's boss for an inadequate or incomplete piece of work, or inappropriate behaviour. 9. To lack bollocks is to be gutless, spineless and generally lack courage. This is not used inversely for the word 'balls' covers this application. 10. As a verb, to 'bollocks' or to be 'bollocksed' it to flummox or be flummoxed; confuse or be confused. 11. If a piece of machinery is bollocksed, it is broken or rendered unusable either temporarily or permanently. 12. To be 'bollock-naked' it to be completely without clothing, save for a few relatively unimportant items such as socks, watch, rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings or other body jewellery. 13. To be 'bollocksed' also means to have imbibed an amount of alcohol which has eliminated a dangerously high number of brain cells causing a lack of social and spatial awareness, incoherent speech and the inability to believe that you're not as drunk as you are, you're not as unattractive in that state as you are, and that you don't rule the world.