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Chris -- 2018-04-11
Though many examples will be spelling errors, I believe that some writing ‘balled’ for ‘bald’ may have in mind, whether consciously or no, something smooth, shiny and spherical like a billiard or pool ball. Bald heads, smooth, shiny and, roughly at least, spherical, could conceivably be seen as ‘balled’. “Balled head” yields 189 ughits and “balled headed” 163.
My first orchestra concert, I sat in the symphony, holding my bass, peering into that audience, looking for your shiny balled head. My first leading role in …
jptot.blogspot.com/2007/10/dear-jeff-aka-dad.html – 54k – Cached
14 Dec 2007 … Perhaps I don’t feel shame on my balled head because I am living in community where every second person is balled LOL – But whenever i go to …
www.digitaltalks.com/?p=48 – 17k – Cached
18 Jul 2007 … cojack was famous for his lolipops and he wasn’t a kid. hell he was a bad ass take no shit balled headed cop. ...
www.destructoid.com/jack-tretton-compar … 5617.phtml – 130k – Cached
By midnight I was perfectly intoxicated, most of us couldn’t bowl, and that shine top (balled headed man) was anxious to go find a girl at a bar. ...
www.ajarnforum.net/vb/the-virtual-pub/2 … rd-13.html – 142k – Cached
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People argue over the etymology of “bald,” but there’s a pretty good likelihood that it started as a form of “balled.” The earliest citation, for instance, is from Chaucer’s description of the Monk in the General Prologue:
His heed was balled, that shoon as any glas [...].
[l. 198 in the Norton Anthology’s edition]
A number of other 14th and 15th C citations use the “balled/ballyd” spellings. Few moderns would know that, of course, but “balled” seems like a recovery of the etymological form.
Last edited by patschwieterman (2008-10-17 03:23:11)
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Hmmm, I did check in both the online etymological dictionary and my Shorter Oxford and ‘bald’ and ‘ball’ seemed to have entirely different roots – I must invest in more rigorous reference material I suppose…
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