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\"made a bit of a pills of\"

English translation: "made a bit of a balls-up"

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:\"made a bit of a pills of\"
Selected answer:"made a bit of a balls-up"

09:38 May 10, 2019
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2019-05-13 13:54:07 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)


English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Cinema, Film, TV, Drama/Bergerac TV Series, Smuggling, Drugs, Whisky, Blackmail
English term or phrase: \"made a bit of a pills of\"
I was translate another episode of Bergerac,
until suddenly one sentence killed me.
I don't understand two expressions in this sentence,
but the second one is given in another question.

(BELLE)
I'm afraid your Aunt Belle's
made a bit of a pills of a small scheme
that was going to keep me in diesel and hard tack
for the next couple of months.

(SUSAN)
You've made a pills of more than that, Belle.

(BELLE)
I don't think so.
Robert Janiak
Poland
Local time: 09:31
"made a bit of a balls-up"
Explanation:
Pills is a euphemism for balls / testicles, from the latin word pila.

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Note added at 39 mins (2019-05-10 10:17:50 GMT)
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The use of this particular euphemism also tells us something about the speaker's background. The idiom is upper/officer class/public school.
Selected response from:

Mark Robertson
Local time: 08:31
Grading comment
Thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +5"made a bit of a balls-up"
Mark Robertson


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +5
"made a bit of a balls-up"


Explanation:
Pills is a euphemism for balls / testicles, from the latin word pila.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 39 mins (2019-05-10 10:17:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The use of this particular euphemism also tells us something about the speaker's background. The idiom is upper/officer class/public school.

Mark Robertson
Local time: 08:31
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thank you.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, and probably considered necessary in this fairly "mainstream" TV series.
15 mins
  -> thanks
agree  Sara Noss
18 mins
  -> thanks
agree  Charles Davis: Presumably
23 mins
  -> thanks
agree  Charlotte Fleming
1 hr
agree  B D Finch: I'd never heard of that euphemism, which must show that I don't mix in such circles.
4 hrs
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