this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
729 points (96.2% liked)
Bluesky
1317 readers
1182 users here now
People skeeting stuff.
Bluesky Social is a microblogging social platform being developed in conjunction with the decentralized AT Protocol. Previously invite-only, the flagship Beta app went public in February 2024. All are welcome!
founded 6 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
“gRoW a sPiNe”
Nothing sounds weaker than tiptoeing around the phrase”grow some balls.”
All things being equal, "grow some balls" is a gendered statement. It implies you need "balls" to be strong or able to form coherent arguments or defend yourself.
I can see why someone would intentionally use an alternate phrase.
I think "spine" has a connotation of morality, whereas "balls" is about pure daring.
But yeah more or less synonymous and you're right that it's definitely used as a euphemism for the stronger version. But also slightly different connotations depending on context, imho