"break <someone's> eggs"

[Joel S. Berson]

In addition to the 1729 quotation I provided for "queen" from _Hell
Upon Earth_ , Rictor Norton claims a 1726 quotation with the same "O
you bold pullet I'll break all your eggs."  From The London Journal
for 1726 May 7, a letter signed by "Philogynus".  See Norton, _Mother
Clap's Molly House_ (1992), p. 67.

I think neither "egg" = 'testicle' nor "pullet" = 'male homosexual'
is in the OED.

Joel

At 8/5/2010 08:42 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Re; "break your eggs."  "Eggs" could well have had testicular overtones or
>even a meaning, but the limited evidence I have places "break/bust your
>balls" well in the 20th C.

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