Is "bollocks" really a swear word? [closed]

Question

Today my laptop battery died while I was finishing off a sticky note and so naturally I just went 'Oh, bollocks!'. After all, it didn't warrant one of the "big six"; it was more a "damn" moment. So I opted for "bollocks". I didn't think it was rude; it was just fun to say.

I was around a colleague at the time and they gave me a bit of a look (and, frankly, an 'Excuse me?!'). They told me that it's just another way of saying "bullshit", yet based on their response, obviously not a euphemism. (I'm sceptical though. I know the dictionary says "balls", but it didn't say anything about "bullshit".) I've always thought that "bollocks" is just one of those great British words that are relatively harmless but fun to say, like "bugger" or "sugarbush".

So, is it actually rude? Or is it just rude to some people?

(If it's relevant, I live in Australia.)

Answer 1

British south-wester here. Honestly bugger is a mild word, bollocks would be considered stronger, yet still acceptable (as opposed to vulgar, depending on how you say it).

Also i have never once heard the word "sugarbush" not even in films.

Answer 2

The British courts are on your side; quoting Wikipedia ...

Perhaps the best-known use of the term is in the title of the 1977 punk rock album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Testimony in a resulting prosecution over the term demonstrated that in Old English, the word referred to a priest, and could also be used to mean "nonsense". Defence Barrister Join Mortimer QC and Virgin Records won the case: the court ruled that the word was not obscene. It just means "put aside all of that other rubbish and pay attention to this."

and the British House of Commons, quoting Hansard (ie. the minutes from UK parliament)

Michael Gove [...] Well, let’s listen to the words of the shadow International Trade Secretary, the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), when he was asked about those six tests. He summed them up pithily in a word which in Spanish translates as “cojones” and in English rhymes with “rollocks.” I know, Mr Speaker, that there are some distinguished citizens in this country who have put on their cars a poster or sticker saying “Bollocks to Brexit”, but we now know from Labour’s own Front Bench that its official Brexit position is “bollocks.” [Interruption.] I am quoting directly from the hon. Member for Brent North, and I am sorry that he is not in his usual position, because it is not the role of the Government to intervene in how the Opposition dispose of their positions but I have to say that the shadow International Trade Secretary is a jewel and an ornament to the Labour Front Bench: he speaks the truth with perfect clarity, and in his description of Labour’s own policy may I say that across the House we are grateful to him—grateful to the constant Gardiner for the way in which he has cast light on the testicular nature of Labour’s position?

Sir Edward Davey: On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you made a new ruling on parliamentary language that I am not aware of?

Mr Speaker: I have made no new ruling on parliamentary language. I was listening, as colleagues would expect, with my customary rapt attention to the observations of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural ​Affairs. I richly enjoyed those observations and particularly his exceptionally eloquent delivery of them, which I feel sure he must have been practising in front of the mirror for some significant number of hours, but on the subject of that which is orderly—because a number of Members were chuntering from a sedentary position about whether the use of the word beginning with b and ending in s which the Secretary of State delighted in regaling the House with was orderly—the answer is that there was nothing disorderly about the use of the word; I think it is a matter of taste.

Michael Gove: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Answer 3

If you speak 'British' and define "swear words" as vulgar slang, then yes. Otherwise this is all poppycock.

bollocks

bol·locks
/ˈbäləks/
British vulgar slang
noun
plural noun: bollocks; plural noun: ballocks; noun: bollix; plural noun: bollixes

1. the testicles.
2. used to express contempt, annoyance, or defiance.

–Google

Answer 4

Yes it is. A bollock is a small ball, and I'll let you work out exactly what kind of ball it's talking about.

It's a relatively mild swearword but you shouldn't use it in polite company. You'll hear it on late night TV but not mainstream and definitely not kids shows.

Answer 5

Bollocks, while not "formal" language, and certainly not the kind of thing you say around Queeny and Prince Charles, is not considered a swear word (considered a bit vulgar) and, in fact, would generally be more acceptable than "bugger". It's very unlikely someone will call you out on that kind of language.

Note: This answer applies for British English and may not be the case for many other variants.

Source: British