Talk:cock up

taboo or not
I am not an english native speaker. is it a taboo word or not? I heard my classmate mention 'cocked up' in front of lecturer in formal condition and it seemed everything normal? 155.69.5.234 15:44, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
 * It is a mildly taboo Britishism, you might get more of a reaction in the U.S. where "cock" is considered quite a bit more vulgar than it is in Britain. - TheDaveRoss 15:45, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Cocked up
The term Cocked up has an entirely non-vulgar meaning. For example Admiralty manual of navigation, Volume 1 By Gran Bretaña. Ministry of Defence 1987 p540 "This is termed a 'cocked-up angle'. The true horizontal angle may be obtained from the cocked-up angle by the following formula..." 88.106.199.225 18:24, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I added it to cock-up with the hyphen.Billlion 19:09, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Folk etymology?
"The term 'cock up' originates to medieval archery...." That all seems rather convenient like most folk etymologies. Because I thought the wing feathers of geese and peacocks were commonly used for arrows. I've never heard of chicken feathers used (which raises my suspicions about the folk etymology). --Navstar (talk) 16:05, 28 June 2016 (UTC)