Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British Slang A blunder; a mess.
Wiktionary
- n. A mistake.
Examples
“After all the time and energy Alex has put into wooing the Yanks, it's hard to see this decision as anything other than a catastrophic cock-up.”
“Attention has been drawn to a slight cock-up in the bilingual nature of Welsh Labour's campaign website for the European elections.”
“But cock-up rather than conspiracy seems the likeliest explanation in the absence of any smoking gun.”
The Guardian: Osama bin Laden: dead, but still a spectre for the world
“Of all the scenarios in cricket, none is more ripe for cock-up than running between the wickets, and none with more comedic potential than when it involves someone running on behalf of an injured batsman or for the ultimate rib-tickler, both batsmen.”
The Guardian: Batsmen must stand alone as another quirk of the game does a runner | Mike Selvey
“I like how you smeared a deliberate and desperate act of courage and foresight as some sort of a policy cock-up.”
“I raised these concerns in a conversation with Dean Bruce Smith on November 7, the day after the final report was released, a meeting I entered armed with a faculty member's innate suspicion of administrators, which suspicion is especially keen during moments of administrative cock-up.”
The Huffington Post: Feisal G. Mohamed: Inside The U Of I Law School's Book-Cooking Scandal
“There has either been an administrative cock-up, or the Telegraph's owner was in generous mood at the Tory party conference.”
“An understandable gambit, incidentally, as there'd been an administrative cock-up at the National Arbitration Tribunal, which had incorrectly referred the whole thing to be dealt with by the coal industry's own conciliation machinery.”
The Guardian: Girl from Ipanema was not the only bum note struck at a Rio marina | Scott Murray
“This entire cock-up is FDR's fault for misleading the American public by dressing up a sensible transfer program as an investment scheme, but that doesn't mean we have to stay wrong.”
Social Security Privatization, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“This entire cock-up is FDR's fault for misleading the American public by dressing up a sensible transfer program as an investment scheme,”
Social Security Privatization, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cock-up’.
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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Fun Words
Words that are fun to say....
gobbledygook, jings, crivens, hullabaloo, wheech, brouhaha, pizzazz, harum-scarum, namby-pamby, pussyfoot, frippery, pitter-patter and 333 more...
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Luck in the Shadows
Words and phrases from Lynn Flewelling's book, Luck in the Shadows.
belly, barbican, pediment, withers, hirsute, oriel, tabard, telesm, thaumaturgy, switch, spargetaction, towheaded and 125 more...
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It's a Man's World: Appendix
Here be exceptions
dick, cock, dickhead, dickwit, knob, cock-up, cobblers, wanker, tool, dickwad, lady balls
Tweets
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