bally
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Alteration of bloody
[edit] Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -æli
[edit] Adjective
bally (not comparable)
- (UK, dated, euphemistic) bloody; used as a mild intensifier.
- He's just a bally idiot.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII, VIII, and XV:
- However, be that as it may and whether you liked the bally thing or didn't, the point was that it had vanished [...] It amazed me that I could have allowed myself to be let in for a binge of this description simply because a woman wished it. Too bally chivalrous for our own good, we Woosters, and always have been. [...] “When you hear me burst into song, you'll know there's peril afoot and you'll have plenty of time to nip out of the window.” “And break my bally neck?” [...] “Nothing can possibly go wrong.” “Just as you say, sir. But I still have that feeling.” The blood of the Woosters is hot, and I was about to tell him in set terms what I thought of his bally feeling, when I suddenly spotted what it was that was making him crab the act.
[edit] Adverb
bally (not comparable)
- (UK, dated, euphemistic) Very.
- That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!
[edit] Usage notes
- Bally is almost exclusively used by the British upper classes.
