If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. More likely is the individual cockup theory, viz. the naivety of Eudoxus himself.1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 2, page 81, column 2:
And I'm sorry for all the cock-ups, my cabinet are absolute crap. We'll have to do better next year.2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by Prime Minister (Hugh Grant):
1 more example
In over a quarter of a century of writing this column, there has been no end of scandals, mishaps, errors and general cock-ups resulting from ministerial incompetence.2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 46:
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Ireland, UK, Obsolete A superior letter; a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than ordinary script; traditionally used in abbreviations.
Printers' slang
The first word of every section or chapter is generally put in small capitals, after a small neat cock-up letter.1824, John Johnson, Typographia, volume 2, page 33:
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Scotland, Obsolete A roll or twist of hair worn at the nape of the neck; a bun.
Cockernonie, a gathering up of the hair of women, after a fashion similar to that of the modern "chignon," and sometimes called a "cock-up." Mr. Kirkton, of Edinburgh, preaching against "cock-ups"—of which chignons were the representatives a quarter of a century ago—said: "I have been all this year preaching against the vanity of women, yet I see my own daughter in the kirk even now with as high a 'cock-up' as any one of you all."1888, Charles Mackay, A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, page 30:
The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the Dictionary of Forces' Slang (1948). The OED suggests that it derives ultimately from the noun cock, but gives no further detail. The nature of the earliest citation suggests that this expression entered the wider language from military slang, making etymologies from typesetting or archery (see alternate meanings of cock-up) unlikely. One proposal is that the phrase originated describing an arrangement of the yards of a square-rigged vessel in port. Modern folk etymology has sometimes suggested that "cock-up" refers to a male erection, or to the phrase "cacked up", but neither is supported.
It was cocking her up with gimcrack notions about ladies till she'd be ashamed to look at her own hands after she had done a day's work with them.1876 May – 1877 July, Anthony Trollope, “‘Wonderful Bird!’”, in The American Senator […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1877, →OCLC, page 282:
I'd take the stick to his back and beat him while I could stand over him—as I done many a time before. The mother, you know, she cocks him up with this and that. . . .1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “Ivy Day in the Committee Room”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 146: