to drop a bollock
- idiom
- /drɒp ə ˈbɒlək/
- Offensive
:
cagarla
- The team realized they had dropped a bollock by not double-checking their report before submission.
Examples
-
After she mixed up the dates, it was clear she had dropped a bollock.
-
He dropped a bollock when he forgot to send the important email before the meeting.
-
Listen, somebody has dropped a bollock in the noodles here.
Synonyms
641
6.3
To make a mistake that ruins what you are doing
295
3.0
To forget something by accident
38
6.1
Fail to do something you are responsible for
37
9.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
19
3.5
To do something clumsily and make a mistake
17
5.6
To make a silly or careless mistake
8
6.4
To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless
6
7.6
To fail badly and embarrass yourself in front of other people
5
7.1
To fail completely and feel embarrassed in front of others
3
7.7
To say or do something embarrassing by accident
1
4.2
Do something that is a serious and embarrassing mistake
1
9.9
To do something so badly that it fails
1
8.2
To do something foolish or embarrassing by mistake
1
8.5
To say or do something embarrassing by accident
To spoil or ruin something by making a careless mistake
To make a silly mistake that makes people laugh at you
To say something quickly and carelessly without thinking
To fail completely in an embarrassing way
To let food fall by accident or make an embarrassing mistake
Antonyms
How Serious
- Offensive
- Informal
641
6.3
37
1.0
- Informal
27
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
drop + a + bollock
The meaning 'to make a serious or embarrassing mistake' is not predictably derived from the literal parts 'drop' + 'a' + 'bollock' (a testicle); the image of 'dropping a testicle' does not compositionally map onto the notion of committing an error. This is colloquial British slang and idiomatic/metaphorical usage rather than a transparent compound, so learners who know the individual words would still not reliably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The idiom drop a bollock may come from a rude picture: imagine drop and bollock — 'bollock' was an old word for a small round thing or a part of the body, so to drop it feels clumsy and very embarrassing. That's why the phrase means 'to make a serious or embarrassing mistake'.