Word Confusion: Ballocks / Bollocks versus Bullocks

Posted November 12, 2015 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
22 Oct 2022

I keep running across this word confusion in J.D. Robb’s In Death series, and I thought ballocks to that! I’ve screwed up in the past on what I thought was right versus what was actually right. And I’ve learned to check the dictionary(!) before I say bollocks to that . . . *grin* . . .

In this case, I’m definitely right. The only time you can exclaim Bullocks! is if you see some, and you’re excited about seeing some young bulls. And I don’t mean hunky young studs!

Word Confusions started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end. Consider sharing this Word Confusion with friends by tweeting it.

Ballocks / Bollocks Bullocks

Ballocks of three pigs

US Employment: Ballocks courtesy of Jesse with Rota Fortunae.

Now, those are ballocks!


32 bullocks harnessed into a team

Thirty-two Bullocks in a Team, Charleville district, 1902-1904, is in the public domain and uploaded courtesy of John Vandenberg at the State Library of Queensland, Australia, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:
Exclamation 1; Noun 2; Verb, transitive 2

Noun singular: ballock, bollock
Noun plural: bollix is another alternative

Third person present verb: ballocks, bollocks
Past tense or past participle: ballocked, bollocked
Present participle: ballocking, bollocking

Noun

Noun plural: bullocks

Also used as a noun modifier

Chiefly British


Exclamation:
Rubbish; nonsense 1

Noun:
[Vulgar] Testes, testicles 2

[Vulgar] Used to express contempt, annoyance, or defiance

Verb, transitive:
[Vulgar slang] Reprimand someone severely 2

Castrated steer

Young bull

Examples:
Exclamation:
Ballocks to that!

Bollocks, mate!

Noun:
Kick him in the ballocks!

But, if the ballocks be marred, the whole race of human kind would forthwith perish, and be lost for ever” (Rabelais).

Verb, transitive:
They gave him a right bollocking.

Watch your step, Mikey. Ma’s ballocking Sean something fierce.

That’s a mighty fine bullock you’ve got there, Jonas.

We’ll need a team of some twenty bullocks to pull this wagon.

Bullocks make for a steady draught animal.

We’ll need to train these bullocks up for dragging logs down the hills.

Bullock yokes have been used to haul buckets of milk and water.

A bullock whip can be used to kill.

Derivatives:
Noun: bullocky, bullwhacker
History of the Word:
  1. Mid-1800s+
  2. Mid-18th century is the plural of bollock, a variant of an earlier ballock, which is of Germanic origin.
Its first known use was before the 12th century.

Middle English ballok from the late Old English bulluc or bealluc, a diminutive of bula, which is from the Old Norse boli.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Ballocks or Bollocks versus Bullocks

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: ballocks

Rabelais , François. Gargantua and Pantagruel. e-artnow, 2020. <https://amzn.to/3CWPKRM>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits

The Cow Pushing the Decorated Cart by Chad Rosenthal from Jerusalem, Israel, is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

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