---I am the William Safire of Vulgar Slang--
[-----Original Message-----] "She thinks she sent us stuff on email but their email system is boloxed up." [/-----Original Message-----]
Another entry in the misused slang contest. Actually, the use is right but the spelling is wrong --she means bollocked up, from bollock "testicle". We would usually refer to an adjacent area of the body and say "assed up" or transferatively "screwed/fucked up." Although you can say that someone "went balls up", it usually implies a more final failure than simply making a mess of one thing (ie., the company was so assed up that it finally went balls up --perhaps because the customers were tired of listening to vulgar language). Webster's says that "balled up" was used around 1885, but I haven't heard anyone use it. Have you?
Another coworker (not the same person) repeatedly referred to the telephone as the "telly". While she was just being silly, I think in the bollocked up email we see an attempt at refinement or a desire not to offend the sensibilities by using foreign slang, as it is judged to be less vulgar than the domestic. An understandable distinction, as it takes some education or background to be bilingual. On that note, my mother in moments of frustration would say "Merde" or "Schiesse" but never the English translation.
BONUS POINTS: what do the Brits call the phone?