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99-yare
a quiet word

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

balls

English answer:

all the pluck, all the courage

Added to glossary by BrigitteHilgner
Sep 14, 2006 06:24
17 yrs ago
English term

balls

English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
Ungerer was always taking Schiller out for expenses-paid lunchs and that sort of thing. He was barking up the wrong tree, though. It was Schiller's wife that had all the say, all the cash, and from what I can gather, all the balls.
Responses
3 +15 all the pluck, all the courage
4 +4 guts
4 +3 was the man....

Responses

+15
2 mins
Selected

all the pluck, all the courage

That's what it means in this context.
Peer comment(s):
agree Jack Doughty : Yes. Slang use of the word meaning testicles. It used to be said of Margaret Thatcher that she was the only British Prime Minister with balls since Churchill!
2 mins
Thank you, Jack. I recall the expression "Attila, the Hen". :-)
agree Dave Calderhead
9 mins
Thank you, David.
agree RHELLER
30 mins
Thank you, Rita.
agree Ioanna Karamanou
31 mins
Thank you, JMKara.
agree zaphod
1 hr
Thank you, zaphod.
agree Joe L : Perfect. Another answerer states "she wore the pants" -which is true- but already accounted for with "had all the say". "Pluck" and "courage" is precisely what "balls" refers to here.
1 hr
Thank you, Joe. Precision rules supreme! :-)
agree Alison Jenner
1 hr
Thank you, Alison.
agree pidzej : (although I would not move a finger to bail out somone with a 462/0 record)
2 hrs
Thank you, pidjej. You've got a point there! :-)
agree NancyLynn
4 hrs
Thank you, Nancy Lynn.
agree Alexander Demyanov
5 hrs
Thank you, Alexander.
agree davidchang
6 hrs
Thank you, David.
agree Sophia Finos (X)
6 hrs
Thank you, Sophia.
agree Alfa Trans (X)
8 hrs
Thank you, Marju.
agree Will Matter
14 hrs
Thank you.
agree TRANZsmart
4 days
Thank you, Henry.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+4
32 mins

guts

Vulgar Slang a. The testicles. b. Courage, especially when reckless. c. Great presumptuousness.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
The Online Slang Dictionary. ... 2. bravado; GUTS. ("You've got balls to do something like that!") ...
www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/b.html

Reference:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/21/B0042100.html

Peer comment(s):
agree zaphod
58 mins
thanks, Peter :-)
agree Ian M-H (X)
7 hrs
thanks, Ian :-)
agree Will Matter : Chutzpah, baby, chutzpah. 'Cojones' in another form. ;0) People that are good at KudoZ are frequently good at both crosswords and Scrabble. Imagine that. ;0)
13 hrs
haha yes, you either got it or you don't :-)
agree ineveryl
4 days
thanks Terena :-)
Something went wrong...
+3
36 mins

was the man....

In my reading the word 'balls' relates more to the fact that she was the man in the relationship/wore the pants in the house etc. rather than her having courage or guts.
Peer comment(s):
agree Susana Galilea : yes, she wore the pants
12 mins
agree R. Alex Jenkins
6 hrs
agree Sarah Ponting : wore the trousers/pants
1 day 41 mins
Something went wrong...
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