Bat’s dos. I remember reading Zaphod saying this when scoffing something.
I want to pronounce it like the Bat’s disk operating system, but I think it could mean Bat’s doo-doo?
Am I on the right track? Is it a British saying, similar to bullshit?
Not an expression I’ve ever heard. I don’t even remember it in HHGG.
“fetid dingo’s kidneys” is original to Adams too.
Wanna give us some clue what you’re talking about? Who the heck are Zaphod and Bat?
Zaphod’s just this guy, you know?
So Bat Dos isn’t the OS on the Bat Computer?
It’s “Bat’s doo-s” (pronounced dooze), which indeed means batshit.
Well, Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the major characters of Douglas Adams’ 'Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Gallaxy," so I’m assuming it has something to do with that.
While perhaps not my most complete OP, thanks for the answer!
I think he meant “Bats second”, but in Spanish. Not the lead off hitter.
Unlikely to be a baseball reference. More likely to be cricket, given the source :dubious:
As you can see in this post, it’s all my fault for mis-spelling “doo”.
IIRC, the original quote is from HHGTTG: “Bats Doos, I can’t figure this out! Computer!!!”
Somehow, in my many, many rereadings of all things Douglas Adams, I have completely forgotten about Bat’s Doos. What makes it even funnier to me is that in Afrikaans, “Doos” (which literally means box) is a fairly vulgar term for a part of the female anatomy (I’ll leave it to you to do the math).
I’ve never heard it used over here. Maybe I’m just sheltered.
I think it’s a Douglas Adams-ism, riffing on an existing phrase. Mr Adams was always coming up with new sweary phrases that sounded filthy but were actually inane, so you could get them onto the BBC (“Belgium!” “You big Gent” “Holy Zarquon Singing Fish”).
He’s just a real hoopy frood, you know.
I didn’t vote for him, though.
What!
You mean “Belgium”** isn’t** a swear word?
Please! I may be willing to throw words like “doos” around, but even I have standards. You can’t just go around saying Bgium all willy-nilly. People will think you’re going for the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word Bgium Award!