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We all know that someone who can never be quiet, who criticizes, moans and nags until your patience wears thin and snaps.

Some men will intimidate the nagger by saying:

Stop breaking my balls!

I think this is a universal expression, it certainly exists in Italy and they have an even more explicit version.

Although Wiktionary tells me about its meaning, it doesn't mention anything about gender. But I always feel silly when I use this vulgar expression myself.

break someone's balls
1. (slang, vulgar) to seriously irritate or nag someone.  
2. (slang, vulgar) to tease or ridicule someone; to take the piss out of someone

On a small number of occasions, I have uttered, half-jokingly

Don't break my uterus!

However, on Google there was only one result

  • Could the uterus version be used in the US, or in the UK?
  • What would be a female equivalent? I would like an expression that cannot be appropriated by men, I want something that says: "I'm a woman, but don't mess around with me."
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – ColleenV
    Commented Apr 24, 2018 at 23:44

4 Answers 4

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33

I'm not sure there's a direct female equivalent, but there's a gender-neutral expression with a similar meaning and level of vulgarity:

Get off my ass!

That being said, I think it's much more common to hear a female speaker use the original "... breaking my balls," then for her to adapt it for female anatomy. I know plenty of women who use the expression "suck my dick".

It takes a listener second or two to realize that "Don't break my uterus!" is a play on the more common expression, which might detract from the impact.

In any case, slang is constantly evolving and there's no reason you shouldn't be able to coin your own phrase. If you say "Don't break my uterus!" you'll probably be understood, and depending on your audience it might be appreciated as creative or as social commentary. But you'll probably be the only person in the world saying it.

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  • I did once, when I really ticked off a female, get a "Lick me!" Only ever heard that one that once though. Shame. That should be a thing.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 20:23
  • 3
    I think the female equivalent of balls (testicles) would be ovaries, rather than uterus.
    – Amani Kilumanga
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 4:12
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There are a lot of other options that don't refer to specific body parts, but I gather that you want something similarly vulgar but referring to female anatomy. It's not all that common, but if you said something like:

"Get off my tits!"

the meaning would be readily understood.

(Note: the expression "off my tits" or "off her tits" can mean other things, like very drunk. "Get off ..." is distinct enough that there shouldn't be any misunderstanding.)

That being said, in the appropriate situation, a woman using, "Stop breaking my balls!" is both completely acceptable and pretty funny. In the right context it can be the perfect comeback.

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  • 1
    I haven't heard the imperative version very often, I must admit, but the "third-party" version That guy really gets on my tits! has been common throughout the UK for decades. I've never really thought of it as specific to either sex of speaker - it was just more likely to be used by males 50 years ago because most females simply weren't so coarse-spoken. But don't forget there's also the usage I just want to go out and get off my tits (totally intoxicated), which I'd guess is more common coming from women today than from men.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 6, 2018 at 17:22
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I've heard

Get off me!

pretty regularly. Also

Don't get your panties in a bind!

from women as well as from men. Probably not exactly what you're looking for but fun all the same. You could also say

Step off my clit!

but that might be too vulgar for your taste. The shock alone might make a few men stumble.

Source: I'm a mid 20s guy with pretty blunt friends.

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  • "Don't get your panties in a bind" is for someone else, though. It's telling another person to calm down and stop acting "hysterical", a term which derives from from the Greek hysterikos "of the womb, suffering in the womb" and so was formerly associated with uncontrolled female emotions.
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 23:54
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Get off my case

to stop criticizing and annoying someone They think he was trying to cheat them, so they're not going to get off his case.

From thefreedictionary.com.

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    It's gender neutral, and I've nver ever heard of it, so I suppose it will also be useful to other users. +1 but it's not really what the question was asking.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 8:33
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    @Mari-LouA I'm surprised you've never heard of it, I think that it's a fairly common idiom. "Get off my back" is a similar phrase.
    – ghoppe
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 18:31
  • @ghoppe nope, never heard of it. Would I understand it? Yes, with context. But if I heard this phrase in a TV show about lawyers I would immediately think about a legal case, as in "Don't meddle in my law case/suit" or criminal case.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 18:35
  • @Mari-LouA - The question seems to suffer from an assumption that (marginally rude) gendered terms in English ought to all have perfect analogs for the other gender. That's just not the case. "Get off my case/back" is in fact pretty much the default way of saying this that I've heard from women.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 20:19
  • oh @T.E.D. it's a bit of harmless fun. But how am I to know what is current slang on the streets of Philadelphia for instance?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 20:21

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