cojones
cojones Lexical Profile
cojones Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Boldness, nerve, or courage in the face of risk or difficulty (slang).
"It took real cojones to challenge the board's unanimous decision in front of the entire company."
The testicles (vulgar slang).
"The stray baseball struck the catcher squarely in the cojones during the ninth inning."
Word Nuance & Usage
Because 'cojones' is borrowed from a vulgar Spanish slang term for testicles, it should be avoided in formal, academic, or polite professional contexts despite its common colloquial use in English to mean boldness.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 20th century from Spanish 'cojones' (the plural of 'cojón', meaning 'testicle'), which ultimately derives from Vulgar Latin '*coleo', from classical Latin 'coleus' ('testicle' or 'leather bag').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.