bally

Etymology

Alteration of bloody

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æli

Adjective

bally (not comparable)

1. (Britain, dated, euphemistic) bloody; used as a mild intensifier.

   He's just a bally idiot.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VII, VIII, and XV”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     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.

Adverb

bally (not comparable)

1. (Britain, dated, euphemistic) Very.

   That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!

Anagrams

• lylab