We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10781843 and marked it off-topic.

Thanks dang.

Yes. Most people from the United Kingdom and the US will recognize this vernacular. I'm saying this in response to your question, I don't expect all English speakers to understand it.

Literally, it means testicles, but more colloclially it means bullshit in every English speaking country I know of.

edit: Apparently not. Just messaged my American buddy, and he thought it might be a wig for cows... So, maybe not Americans.

I'm an American, and I think most Americans would recognize it as meaning "bullshit"; I certainly did. it's not commonly used but it is commonly understood.

I'm an American; it strikes me as an overloaded expression, used to imply both "bullshit" and "testicles", plus whatever the Sex Pistols were on about in their album title...

... yet in C. S. Forester naval stories, it clearly refers to steers or bulls.

So, I can only conclude that it is a random operator used to confuse colonials.

Not Canada either but def Australia

It's a common expression throughout the commonwealth, since it is British in origin (and quite old, to boot).

It's uncommon in the US.

One of the top 50 albums of all time used it in the title, so yeah. (Mr. Dotcom offered it as a pirated download from his service, too.)

Yes, in Australia and the UK it has a lot of meaning.

I don't mean to flame but even the slightest cursory look at world culture would have given you the answer to this question.

Sorry, I thought it would make interesting conversation.

I'll happily delete my question, if this is detracting from the discussion?