noun a condition, especially a worthless or negative state. Originally 'to be like Barney's bull' meant 'extremely fatigued or distressed'; Partridge noted the range extended as: 'bitched, buggered, and bewildered like Barney's bull'; 'well fucked and far from home like Barney's bull' and 'all behind like Barney's bull'. In 2003 a quick search of the Internet revealed: 'buggered like Barney's bull' from the northeast UK; 'more mixed up than Barney's Bull' from western Canada, of Scots-Irish descent; 'get into more trouble than Barney's bull' from Australia; and 'mad as Barney's bull' UK, 1908