Word Confusion: Ballocks / Bollocks versus Bullocks

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

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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.

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Ballocks / Bollocks	Bullocks
US Employment: Ballocks courtesy of Jesse with Rota Fortunae. — Now, those are ballocks!	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:
Mid-1800s+ 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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