Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I thought it was a UK/Australasian-only phrase, but I heard Vince Vaughn say it in Dodgeball. Have bollocks crossed the Atlantic?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

obligatory gay joke

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

Don't you just hate it when the English go around messing with the English language. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

i say it cuz my former boss was a brit and it caught on. he had to explain the proper usages to me though; i didn't realize it had more than one meaning.

i will be over in the UK in a week, maybe i'll pick up some more fun lingo.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

yeah, to explain:
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)
'bollocks' - rubbish, or testicles.

I'm pretty sure only the latter has got to the Western colonies though.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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yeah, to explain:
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)
'bollocks' - rubbish, or testicles.

I'm pretty sure only the latter has got to the Western colonies though.

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yeah, that's how he explained it too.

i use both. mostly jokingly though, cuz noone ever knows what i am talking about.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I take it from this that 'bollocks' isn't in common usage then?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

[ QUOTE ]
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, that's amazing, two cultural memes converging! And being so similar; 'nuts' is bad, 'the nuts' is good!

They have different source/roots etc, but they mean the same thing, and the meaning is mostly reversed or radically changed with the inclusion of the definite article.

I'll shut up now cos the stupid don't like to be reminded.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I take it from this that 'bollocks' isn't in common usage then?

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nope.

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'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

[/ QUOTE ]

not really, it's more use like this:

Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

nor would you throw down your AA and yell "i've got the bollocks!"

they're 2 different beasts.

diebitter, do you agree? and by the way, where in england are you located?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

They have different source/roots

How do you know?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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nor would you throw down your AA and yell "i've got the bollocks!"

they're 2 different beasts.

diebitter, do you agree? and by the way, where in england are you located?

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Actually, I would use 'the bollocks' in that context, but I'd be surprised if it didn't raise a few eyebrows, and I'd be surprised to ever hear it myself outside of a London casino. So I do agree completely with you.

I live in Leicester, but born/bred in the promised land, South London.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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They have different source/roots

How do you know?

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Well, I'm pretty sure that 'the nuts' didn't arise from a highly-regarded 2-stroke motorbike engine movement looking just like the testes of a mating terrier.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

really? hmm, i did not know that.

i'm staying right outside of heathrow, is leicester near there? and where can i get a game while i'm there?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They have different source/roots

How do you know?

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Well, I'm pretty sure that 'the nuts' didn't arise from a highly-regarded 2-stroke motorbike engine movement looking just like the testes of a mating terrier.

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No, but I think I remember hearing that "the nuts" was a shortening of "the mutt's nuts" which obviously is a reference to "the dog's bollocks".

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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really? hmm, i did not know that.

i'm staying right outside of heathrow, is leicester near there? and where can i get a game while i'm there?

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No, not really (about 100 miles away). I've never played a live game in the UK, only Vegas. There are no games at all in Leicester [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

London casinos, I'd guess. However, I think you need to apply 24 hours before you can go in, so check it on the internet - you may be able to register as a member online these days. Maybe another UK OOTer can help you out?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I take it from this that 'bollocks' isn't in common usage then?

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nope.

[ QUOTE ]
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

[/ QUOTE ]

not really, it's more use like this:

Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure it would.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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They have different source/roots

How do you know?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I'm pretty sure that 'the nuts' didn't arise from a highly-regarded 2-stroke motorbike engine movement looking just like the testes of a mating terrier.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, but I think I remember hearing that "the nuts" was a shortening of "the mutt's nuts" which obviously is a reference to "the dog's bollocks".

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Oh, that'll teach me to assume. My bad.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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London casinos, I'd guess. However, I think you need to apply 24 hours before you can go in, so check it on the internet - you may be able to register as a member online these days. Maybe another UK OOTer can help you out?

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You don't need ot apply to gutshot 24 hours before you play because it's a cardroom, not a casino.

However I think it's depressing there and I don't enjoy PLHE and if I could work out their rake structure, I'm sure it would be too high.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I take it from this that 'bollocks' isn't in common usage then?

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nope.

[ QUOTE ]
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

[/ QUOTE ]

not really, it's more use like this:

Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure it would.

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really? i've never heard it used that way. my bad.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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You don't need ot apply to gutshot 24 hours before you play because it's a cardroom, not a casino.

However I think it's depressing there and I don't enjoy PLHE and if I could work out their rake structure, I'm sure it would be too high.

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why is it depressing?

getting to london is somewhat of a hassle anyway. i suck at driving there, so i'm not even renting a car this time. i drove for 10 years in the U.S. without a single car accident. last year, i lasted about a minute and a half in england before i side-swiped a parked bus. granted, 6 gin + tonics on the flight over probably wasn't the smartest move, but whatever.

anyway, i guess i'll probably just play UB all week.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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Don't you just hate it when the English go around messing with the English language. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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This is an oxymoraaan.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

The Dynamite Kid must have used the term 'bollocks' ten times in his auto bio. Based on the context "I was going to punch him in the bollocks" I got it.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I think I just find it depressing because it's a cardroom and it's just a bunch of sad old losers sitting around wasting time and money, not having fun, bitching at people and being complete nits (I get chastised by them for talking to my friends during a hand, even after we've both folded), sprinkled with the odd cocky WPT kid who takes 15 minutes on every hand.

Don't drink and drive you idiot, it's innocent people's lives you're risking. It's especially stupid to do it in a country where you have to drive on the other side of the road and where driving is much more difficult anyway (narrower roads, roundabouts, warning signs being weird pictures rather than words etc).

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
'the bollocks' (shortening of 'the dog's bollocks'== very good, best)

This should be easy for people here to remember, given it means the same thing as "the nuts".

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, that's amazing, two cultural memes converging! And being so similar; 'nuts' is bad, 'the nuts' is good!

They have different source/roots etc, but they mean the same thing, and the meaning is mostly reversed or radically changed with the inclusion of the definite article.

I'll shut up now cos the stupid don't like to be reminded.

[/ QUOTE ]
Alright, I'll come by and say it's similar to tits, then, too. "That's tits" means it's good, while if you've got a "bag of tits", that's a whole lot of nothing.

What else?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

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It's tits!

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I think I just find it depressing because it's a cardroom and it's just a bunch of sad old losers sitting around wasting time and money, not having fun, bitching at people and being complete nits (I get chastised by them for talking to my friends during a hand, even after we've both folded), sprinkled with the odd cocky WPT kid who takes 15 minutes on every hand.

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i see.

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Don't drink and drive you idiot, it's innocent people's lives you're risking. It's especially stupid to do it in a country where you have to drive on the other side of the road and where driving is much more difficult anyway (narrower roads, roundabouts, warning signs being weird pictures rather than words etc).

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i was mostly joking around - 6 drinks over the course of a 6 hour flight doesn't get me drunk...if i thought i was too drunk to drive i could have had the guy i was with drive. i think i was hitting that stupid bus one way or the other; i was sooooo discombobulated being on the right side of the car. it was really quite embarassing.

drunk driving is not in my repertoire.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I thought it was a UK/Australasian-only phrase, but I heard Vince Vaughn say it in Dodgeball. Have bollocks crossed the Atlantic?

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Some people have an affinity for British slang.

The horses are suitably frightened
 

You truly wanna be searching for the root behind the bollocks?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

Actually, as a poker fiend, I often say "the nuts" in day-to-day speech when referring to anything that's the best.

For example, "Hockey is good, but playoff hockey is the nuts."

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I first learned the phrase from the Sex pistols album (For all you fools who know one of the greatest bands ever: Never Mind the Bollocks Heres's hte Sex Pistols) andI ve used it ever since. I use it in the chat box because no one else knows what it means and then I can make fun of them, because thats how cool I am.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

Actually, as a poker fiend, I often say "the nuts" in day-to-day speech when referring to anything that's the best.

For example, "Hockey is good, but playoff hockey is the nuts."

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i now realize i am wrong.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Patrick del Poker Grande: this new Coheed and Cambria CD is the [dog's] bollocks!

this phrasing wouldn't really work with "the nuts"

Actually, as a poker fiend, I often say "the nuts" in day-to-day speech when referring to anything that's the best.

For example, "Hockey is good, but playoff hockey is the nuts."

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, i now realize i am wrong.

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Only on technicality. He's incredibly wrong in taste. Using "the nuts" outside of poker is very poor form.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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Actually, as a poker fiend, I often say "the nuts" in day-to-day speech when referring to anything that's the best.

For example, "Hockey is good, but playoff hockey is the nuts."

[/ QUOTE ]
Russ? Is that you?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

my bollocks were on your mums tongue last night but I guess she doesn't have a US tongue so this post isn't very informative.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

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I first learned the phrase from the Sex pistols album (For all you fools who know one of the greatest bands ever: Never Mind the Bollocks Heres's hte Sex Pistols) andI ve used it ever since. I use it in the chat box because no one else knows what it means and then I can make fun of them, because thats how cool I am.

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You really think:

a) there are many people people that don't know who the Sex Pistols are?

and

b) there are many people that don't know what bollocks means?

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I don't know about bollocks, but the phrase "pop in" has caught on, at least in NY. As in, "I have to pop in to the store to buy some milk." Also "bloody" as in "that bloody cab almost ran me over"

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

I think that most people are idiots and most dont have a clue about good music. so the answers are:

A) Yes

B) Yes

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

There's also what I think is a corruption of the original, used when something has broken down or is ruined. 'bolloxed' or 'bollixed' (I think both are used). ie 'This is bolloxed!'

I think this word actually appears in Shakespeare somewhere, but I could be confusing it with Chaucer or something.

Re: Are \'bollocks\' sometimes on US tongues these days?
 

No, Americans pretty much never say this. A very high percentage of Americans wouldn't know what it means.

Occasionally Americans use Britishisms just for fun or to try to sound sophisticated. Gays and pretentious males seem to fall prey most to this anomalous use of language the rest of their peers don't even understand.

Usually these outbursts are confined to the use of "bloody" or "bloody hell," which basically have no place at all in common American speech.