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‘Bollocks’ has always been a great insult to throw around the place but nobody has really stopped to ask where the word came from. Well that is until David O’Doherty who decided to ask the one person who would definitely know, Countdown’s Susie Dent.
Hey @susie_dent Where does ‘bollocks’ come from? Sounds French. Like balleaux?
It took her a while (3 days) to respond because she’s Susie Dent and she’s pretty busy on Countdown to be fair. She didn’t let us down though.
Am I too late? Bollocks used to be ‘ballocks’, dating right back to the Anglo-Saxons (the word not the bollocks). It’s related to ball and was completely neutral - just as intestines were otherwise known as ‘arse-ropes’.
Turns out bollocks was an old word that referred to a very innocent ball rather than the absolute ballbag we all assumed it meant. Fair play to Susie for also throwing in the interesting tid bit about intestines being otherwise known as arse ropes? The more you know.
It also turns out that Susie has an entire series devoted to swear words and their origins so she really is the perfect person to ask about these kinds of things.
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Saturday 21 December, 2024
Saturday 21 December, 2024
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Susie Dent from Countdown has explained where the word 'bollocks' came from
IT’S BEEN A big week for the word ‘bollocks’ with both John Waters and Minister for Transport Shane Ross using the word with gusto.
‘Bollocks’ has always been a great insult to throw around the place but nobody has really stopped to ask where the word came from. Well that is until David O’Doherty who decided to ask the one person who would definitely know, Countdown’s Susie Dent.
It took her a while (3 days) to respond because she’s Susie Dent and she’s pretty busy on Countdown to be fair. She didn’t let us down though.
Turns out bollocks was an old word that referred to a very innocent ball rather than the absolute ballbag we all assumed it meant. Fair play to Susie for also throwing in the interesting tid bit about intestines being otherwise known as arse ropes? The more you know.
It also turns out that Susie has an entire series devoted to swear words and their origins so she really is the perfect person to ask about these kinds of things.
Her late reply also gave rise to a nice little Dirty Dancing/Countdown joke which is something I never expected to write.
Top work everyone, we can all go home now.
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bollocks Countdown david o'doherty Susie Dent