h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A dog considers his 'bollocks' to be the most important part of his body, hence "dog's bollocks" means the best.

However, many references to Dogs are contraditory:

Dog's dinner - messy
Like a Dog's dinner - dressed smartly
Put on the Dog - to behave pretentiously
Dog-eared - shabby

Then there are the phrases which imply Dogs have a tough life:

A Dog's life - a tough existance
Dog days - the hot/exhausting part of Summer (not experienced in England)
Doggy bag - leftovers
Doghouse - out of favour
Dogsbody - someone who does all the bum jobs

Changing the subject slightly, why do people mis-use words so much?
(i.e. they say invariably to mean seldom, when infact it means never
- there are many more)

Here are two more:

'infer' instead of 'imply'
'less' instead of 'fewer'

DP

I referred to this a bit ago.
In the days when adverising was much cruder, "Beecham's Little Liver Pills" carried the slogan "Worth a guinea a box". Presumably they cost far less. Other concerns made claims that their products were also good value for money and the phrase "Cheap at TWICE the price" was born. At some stage, a wit reversed the meaning to indicate that the product was NOT worth the money.
Now, whether your dear Mama is of an age to recall this and is making a valid economic judgment or is using the phrase indiscriminately, you are better placed than I to decide.
Sorry, but you did ask.

I suspect the latter.

The Cassell Dictionary of Word Histories might be worth a look.

'Scuse me Gravity but when you say: "Changing the subject slightly, why do people mis-use words so much? (i.e. they say invariably to mean seldom, when infact it means never- there are many more)", did you really mean "invariably" because I was under the impression that "invariably" meant not variable, or constantly. Or am I mistaken?

'Oi. Put a lid on it and pack it in.
I'm 50% Brit and all I know about it is they make a great cup of tea and when they're talking antiques they don't mean 50 years old....
Britain has been around for so long and if we "Americans don't understand what they're saying at times" it could be like children listening to adults talk. Eventually we catch on and find ourselves using the talk. It's like the prodigal son I reckon. Wouldn't the Pilgrims be fit to be tied?

OK, what's a sprog, or rather where did that word come from? In context, it appears a sprog is a child...is this an endearing term or not?
Since this seems to be the dog/ testes/bollocks hotline, and purely for the edification of people who can spell - (itz heard four me to bee grandma tick lee coreckt coz I'm not an entymologist, Eh?)
(Fill in the blanks, I work at a mill; these are colloquialisms and the goal here is to expand cultural awareness)
Anyhow, the term 'bollocks',as in 'Oh Bollocks' is replaced in Canada by "bullsh-t".
Bull's testicles, having been removed, thus creating a steer, are, once cooked, called "Prairie Oysters" and eaten.
By people.
Really.
Other people.
Yes, they are usually drunk. The People.
Not me.

Well, yeah, I'm usually drunk, but I won't eat the balls off a steer.
By the way, anyone who can explain 'Haggis'; go nuts...(which means 'please proceed')
So.
About dogs et al...Here, a "Dog-F-cker" Anyway, a Dog-F-cker is a lazy person.
I have no idea where it came from but it's universally accepted...
"F-cking the dog" is being lazy; 'dragging your ass', as it were...
What's with "as it were"; too, Eh?
This could take forever...who started this?...I thought I spoke english, or a reasonable facimile, already...all for fun...
PLT, Mick

Sprog is generally derogative, as in "Bloody Sprogs, making a racket!" Eric Cartman from South Park is a typical sprog to my mind.

As to Haggis (which seems to be a bit off topic but hey ho) it is a small round animal with two long legs and two short legs. It runs around the hills of Scotland, with the short legs uphill. To catch one, make it turn round. It then loses balance and rolls down the hill where your mate with a net can catch it.

actually i reckon "the cat's t**t" is particularly amusing.

That is not the sort of language we expect to hear around here!!! Does your mother know you speak like that?

Dear, dear, dear, the youth of today.

(I think the phrase you are referring to is derived from the same root as the dogs bollocks, just designed to shock more, which is always nice)

It seems the opinion that dogs prize their 'bollocks' above all else (for which no proof has been offered), is held entirely by men.

I wonder what we should infer from this?

It's not for nothing that we sometimes refer to them as the family jewels

Only some instances of 'bollocks' are directly replacable by 'bullshit'. If shouting the single word at someone who's speaking rubbish, as an abbreviation for 'Shut up, you're talking b...', the words are interchangeable

However, in the UK at least, 'bollocks' can also be used like 'bugger', or 'oh bugger!' in the sense of an exclamation of frustration, even while alone, such as when you realise the DIY assembly instructions you were following precisely weren't worth the paper they were printed on.

In Ireland you can refer to someone as "a bollocks" which is short for a "bollocks for brains" although in more polite circumstances this is mutated to billix.
I may have already mentioned this, in which case I am said billix

Let's not forget the other common use of reference's to animal's unmentionables when referring to someone considered to be 'tight' (in the sense of highly reluctant to part with money.)

One of the commonest usages is illustrated by the phrase
'You'll be lucky if he buys a round - he's as tight as a gnat's chuff'

or the more cryptic antipodean / cockney rhyming slang version (best said with an Aussie accent)
'Blimey mate - that bloke's as tight as a kangaroo's khyber'

Don't £or&et t#at old c#e$tnut:-
"$#e'$ a Do&", t#i$ i$ a realy dero&atory term £or a lady.
Quite w#y i'm not $ure.

Re&ard$

I #ave a mate called Clive w#o $wear$ t#at anyt#in& wit#out value i$ a$ u$e£ull a$ a 8ucket full of 8ollock$!

#ope t#i$ #elp$!

$cu$e t#i$ 8loody key8oard.

Perhaps the language of dogs is full of parallel metaphors and expletives, all to do with men and their 'jewels'.

From the second-hand bookshop I have just picked up a book called "Understanding British English:bridging the gap between the English language and its American counterpart" by Margaret E Moore published by Citadel Press in 1989. So ask away [unless it's something that's taken off in the last elevn years, of course]