yarbles

singular yarble · alternative yarblockos

1. pluralplural normallyslangvulgarTesticles.

   "Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly, thou."

   1962, Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, 1st edition, London: William Heinemann, page 16

   1 more example

   I mean, who could ever forget the touching moment in [The] Monster Squad when a pre-teenager kicks the Wolfman in the nuts and utters the classic line "The Wolfman has yarbles!"

   1988 March, Ed Naha, “1987: The Movies”, in Science Fiction Chronicle, volume 9, number 6, New York: Algol Press, →ISSN, page 40

2. figurativelymildlypluralplural normallyslanguncountablevulgarCourage, fortitude, or machismo.

   "I'm not worried. This kid's got giant yarbles." "Giant yarbles make bigger targets," I say. "Maybe he ought to wear more than a loincloth." Ockham laughs. Slaps me on the back. "Didn't know you had a sense of humor, chief."

   2010, David Macinnis Gill, Black Hole Sun, 1st pbk. edition, New York: Greenwillow Books, published 2012, →ISBN, page 142

   Synonyms: balls, bollocks, cojones, guts, nerve, chutzpah, audacity, balls

3. euphemisticmildlypluralplural normallyslanguncountablevulgarNonsense; something of unacceptably poor quality.

   Well, my droogs, this is a load of yarbles. Right now at New World Stages, a risible British adaptation of A Clockwork Orange is doing a bit of the old ultraviolence to its audience.

   2017 September 25, Helen Shaw, “A Clockwork Orange”, in Time Out, New York

   Synonyms: bollocks, horseshit, absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab

4. euphemisticmildlypluralplural normallyslanguncountablevulgarInformation that is false or otherwise misleading.

   1 more example

   James Brown looked a tool on C4's Withnail Weekend. Brown's crew at Loaded was credited with inventing the Withnail drinking game "I Demand to Have Some Booze". Utter yarbles'. Fact: the game, where viewers simultaneously enjoy beverages identical to those consumed by characters on screen, was introduced by a journalist on the Evening Standards London Life section in the mid-1980s.

   1999 August 1, “Pandora”, in The Independent, London

   Synonyms: bollocks, bullshit, misinformation

alternative yarblockos

1. colloquialeuphemisticpossiblyvulgarExpressing disgust, annoyance, frustration, or disapproval.

   "Oh, yarbles," Micky whispered. "This really is a bitch, isn't it?"

   1999, Marjorie Dorner, Seasons of Sun & Rain: A Novel, 1st edition, Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, page 96

   1 more example

   "God knows, does He?" grinned Andy, unfazed. "Why hasn't He struck me dead then, kiddo?" Chris looked at him. "Just because He hasn't yet doesn't mean He won't. I hope I'm not standing next to you when it happens, that's all." "Yarbles!"

   1996, Robert Swindells, Last Bus, London: Puffin Books, published 2001, →ISBN, pages 53–54