Putting the bok or bock on something

[lankeela]

An Irish girl I worked with used to say you had put the bok (or bock) on something if you had made it go wrong. Anyone heard this before? Can't find any reference to it.

[Eastender]

Its an old saying, meaning that you put bad luck on it. We always say it, and I'm not Irish.

[dotty.]

isn't it the same as putting the kybosh (sp) on something?

[BayBoy1]

could this be from the saying .that you had put the block on something??

[askyourgran]

I would have said kybosh like dotty. Never heard of bock or bok. But the Irish have different words for things. Armpits are oxters in Irish.

[Quizmonster]

It's probably just a variant of the word, buck, in the sense of being in opposition to something, as in the phrase, 'to buck the trend'. Thus, to put the buck - or bock - on something is to jinx it, as it were.

[owdhamer]

I have heard of puttimg a block on something. To stop

[scotman]

I don't know and neither does the urban dictionary

[Quizmonster]

It could also be a corruption of bogy, in the sense of devil, hobgoblin or bogeyman. Once you throw them into the game, things can be EXPECTED to go wrong!