I'm All Balled Up

Before we get onto the pre-written post, below, let me tell you about the latest — which fits pretty well with being :all balled up.”

Yesterday, my new phone came. That was planned.

What hadn’t been planned was both phones and internet getting a new consolidated provider. It was a last-minute decision from a cold call at our door. I am pretty resistant to sales pitches at my door, but I succumbed. 

Both the new phone and the new internet came on the same day which was a bit overwhelming. First, I had to get the new phone up to speed, which was relatively easy. Then, the technician came to get the fiber line into the house. He had trouble, and the job extended into hours, but he got it done, 

But the rest was up to us to configure or pay $150 for him to do it. This wasn't his fault. It's just how it is done. That "balled us up" a bit, but we managed to get it up and running. But I still have the old internet too, and I think some devices are on the new system while some remain on the old. My ex-BiL is very good at this sort of thing, so he will come by sometimes this weekend to help us get all sorted and “unballed up.”

"I'm All Balled Up." I said it one morning as I was changing back into my daywear lounge pants. They are the same as my nightwear lounge pants, except I wear black during the day and shades of blue at night. This colour scheme wasn't planned; it just happened. It helps me keep the two usages separate.

Digression aside, I was struggling to get my right foot through because the pant had become all knotted or tangled down by my foot. That is when I said it to myself: "I'm all balled up." 

I surprised myself, for this phrase is not part of my normal usage. However, I know where it came from although I hadn't heard it for decades. It was something that my dad would say when he got things confused. Maybe he would get his times wrong or some fact.

I looked it up for clarification. This is what Merriam-Webster had to say:

ball up
verb: balled up; balling up; balls up

transitive verb: to make a mess of : confuse, muddle

intransitive verb: : to become badly muddled or confused

I was also curious about the origin. According to dictionary.com: "This term may come from the fact that when a horse is driven over soft or partly thawed snow, the snow becomes packed into icy balls on its hoofs, making it stumble."

However, it also suggests that another meaning is possible: "that it alludes to the vulgar term balls for testicles." Apparently, that usage may have become common with American troops in WWI. I guess an alternative in that sense would be, cock up. 

It's earlier usage, however, seems to have been somewhat common with America colleges students.

The phrase "I'm all balled up" originated in American college slang of the 1850s, where it initially meant failing an examination or becoming thoroughly confused. While the precise source of the word choice remains obscure, possible connections include the image of a snarled ball of yarn or string, the act of crumpling paper into a ball, or a horse's feet getting clogged with snowballs in winter.

Dad wasn't a college student of any era, and he wasn't a soldier either. He never would have used it in the vulgar sense; nor would I although I wouldn't be quite as averse as he. He would just being using it as a synonym for confused — as was I.

So there we are. I'm am almost sure that I haven't used the phrase or even thought about it for a long time, but, suddenly, the words were back — as was dad . . . if you know what I mean.