cock-up

plural cock-ups

1. CommonwealthmildlyslangvulgarA mistake.

   And I'm sorry for all the cock-ups, my cabinet are absolute crap. We'll have to do better next year.

   2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by Prime Minister (Hugh Grant)

   2 more examples

   If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. More likely is the individual cockup theory, viz. the naivety of Eudoxus himself.

   1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 2, page 81, column 2

   In over a quarter of a century of writing this column, there has been no end of scandals, mishaps, errors and general cock-ups resulting from ministerial incompetence.

   2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 46

   Synonyms: screw-up, fuck-up, aberration, bloomer, blooper, blunder, boner, boo-boo

2. IrelandUKobsoleteprinters' slangA superior letter; a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than ordinary script; traditionally used in abbreviations.

   The first word of every section or chapter is generally put in small capitals, after a small neat cock-up letter.

   1824, John Johnson, Typographia, volume 2, page 33

3. ScotlandobsoleteA roll or twist of hair worn at the nape of the neck; a bun.

   1 more example

   Cockernonie, a gathering up of the hair of women, after a fashion similar to that of the modern "chignon," and sometimes called a "cock-up." Mr. Kirkton, of Edinburgh, preaching against "cock-ups"—of which chignons were the representatives a quarter of a century ago—said: "I have been all this year preaching against the vanity of women, yet I see my own daughter in the kirk even now with as high a 'cock-up' as any one of you all."

   1888, Charles Mackay, A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, page 30