bust someone's balls

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Verb

bust someone's balls (third-person singular simple present busts someone's balls, present participle busting someone's balls, simple past and past participle busted someone's balls)

(slang, vulgar) To give someone a hard time, whether by playfully teasing or sincerely harassing them.
- 1990, Goodfellas:
  Henry: All day long I thought the guys in the helicopter were just local cops busting my balls over Lufthansa. But they turned out to be narcs.

Synonyms

break someone's balls

Related terms

bust one's balls

Translations

to give someone a hard time

Catalan: tocar els collons, tocar els nassos
French: ^{(please verify)} briser les couilles (fr), ^{(please verify)} les briser (fr), ^{(please verify)} casser les couilles (fr), ^{(please verify)} les casser (fr)
Greek: πρήζω τ’ αρχίδια (el) (prízo t’ archídia)
Italian: rompere i coglioni, rompere le palle, rompere le scatole (euphemistic)