bollocks

I read an interesting anecdote about the origin of the word bollocks in Richard Branson's autobiography, 'Losing My Virginity'.

The story revolves around the Sex Pistols' 1977 album 'Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols'. The manager of the Virgin record shop in Nottingham was charged under the Indecent Advertisements Act of 1889 after police spotted posters advertising the newly-released album in the shop window.

During the trial, Richard Branson called upon the Professor of Linguistics at the local university (a Professor Kingsley) to define the word 'bollocks'. Professor Kingsley explained that the word 'bollocks' was actually an eighteenth century nickname for priests. Because priests' sermons were typically a load of rubbish, the word 'bollocks' eventually became synonymous with 'rubbish'.

1. testicles (chiefly British)
2. to make a mess of, destroy or ruin.

   WordNet, Princeton University

3. also bollix; to render something fubar.

   from a noticeboard in a lab at Nottingham Trent University, c. 1995
   (...says wertperch. Thanx!)