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malarkey

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also:Malarkey

English

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WOTD – 12 June 2020

Alternative forms

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malachy,malarky,mallarky,mullarkey

Etymology

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Of unknown origin; the word was popularized by the Irish-Americancartoonist Thomas Aloysius (“Tad”) Dorgan (1877–1929), who started using it in cartoons on March 9, 1922.^[1]^[2]

Maybe fromIrishmallachtóireacht orGreekμαλακίες(malakíes)

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /məˈlɑːki/
Audio(Received Pronunciation): (file)
(General American)IPA^(key): /məˈlɑɹki/
Rhymes:-ɑː(ɹ)ki
Hyphenation:ma‧lar‧key

Noun

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malarkey (plural(rare)malarkeys)

(originally US, informal)Nonsense;rubbish.[from 1920s]
Synonyms:seeThesaurus:nonsense
I decided it was a bunch ofmalarkey and stopped reading about halfway through.
- 1934 April 2,Thomas Aloysius Dorgan,The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.: Capital Times Co.,→ISSN,→OCLC, page 6:
  Malachy—You said it—I wouldn't trust a lawyer no further than I could throw a case of Scotch.
- 1939,The Commentator, volume 6, New York, N.Y.: Payson Publishing Co.,→OCLC, page45, column 2:
  It's a lot ofmallarky for mothers, sisters, and sweethearts to ask "Laddie, when you're far away will you think of me?" The answer is NO! The girls who teach the soldier boys are kept busy as a bee. It's the soldier boys who pay.
- 1945,Lawrence Lariar,Erle Stanley Gardner, Marjorie Alan,The Girl with the Frightened Eyes[by Lawrence Lariar]; The Case of the Half-wakened Wife[by Erle Stanley Gardner]; Dark Prophecy[by Marjorie Alan], New York, N.Y.: Detective Book Club,→OCLC, page127:
  She shrugged. "I've told you all I know." / "Mallarky. You haven't even begun to spill and you know it."
- 1957 July, Merrick Pratt, “Administering the Protective Equipment Program”, in Gerard J. Riley, editor,Modern Sanitation: The Magazine of Sanitation Management and Plant Housekeeping, volume 9, number 1, Easton, Pa.: Powell Magazines,→OCLC,page21:
  If I told you that we had launched the glove washing program without effort it would be purelymalarkey. Right off the bat we had some squawks about dermatitis.
- 1968,Margery Allingham, “The String Man”, inCargo of Eagles, London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC; republished London:Vintage,2016,→ISBN,page91:
  'Smuggling,' she said. 'has a fine romantic ring about it—once aboard the lugger, you heave ho and all that kind ofmalarky. [...]'
- 1957 October 19, Robert Ormond Case, “Trouble at Midas Creek”, inBen Hibbs, editor,The Saturday Evening Post, volume230, number16, Philadelphia, Pa.; London:Curtis Publishing Company,→ISSN,→OCLC,page64, column 1:
  Save thatmalarkey for those old fossils at Midas Creek! You're aiming at the pot. So am I. I'm in control, but you and your infernal luck could upset the applecart.
- 1983,Donald E[dwin] Westlake, chapter23, inWhy Me?, New York, N.Y.:Viking,→ISBN; republished[New York, N.Y.]: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road,2011,→ISBN:
  But, Tony, this has got to stay within the Department. None of our FBIers or state troopers or all them othermalarkeys get to hear a word of it.
- 1985,Stephen Lowe, “Moving Pictures”, inMoving Pictures: Four Plays (Methuen New Theatrescript), London; New York, N.Y.:Methuen,→ISBN, page 7:
  But I'm not havin' this filmmallarky. I'm takin' no memories wi' me.
- 1993, Richard Barry, “Budgeting”, inThe Management of International Oil Operations, Tulsa, Ok.:PennWell Books,→ISBN,page331:
  A company that makes a fetish of never exceeding the budget invites game-playing and othermalarky. It is easy to forget the obvious: that it involves no skill to come in on time and under budget if the schedule and budget are generous enough.
- 1998,Nick Hornby, chapter 13, inAbout a Boy, London:Gollancz,→ISBN; republished as chapter13, inAbout a Boy, New York, N.Y.:Riverhead Books,1998,→ISBN:
  "No. She was going through aKramer vs. Kramer kind of thing at the time. You know, a sort of I-want-to-find-out-who-I-ammalarkey." / "And did she find out who she was?" / "Not really. I don't know if anyone really does, do they?"
- 2001 January,Jules Verne, chapter5, in Frederick Paul Walter, transl.,20,000 Leagues under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World (Project Gutenberg eBook;#2488),Project Gutenberg,→OCLC, part 2:
  "An underwater tunnel!" he exclaimed. "A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of suchmalarkey!"
- 2004, Johnny Rich, “The Application Process”, in Ruth Bushi, editor,The Push Guide to Choosing a University, 2nd edition, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire:Nelson Thornes,→ISBN,page68:
  This book isn't about the application process itself – how best to complete your UCAS form, what the codes are for exam awarding bodies, what to say in interviews and all thatmullarkey.
- 2015, Liz Talley,Sweet Talking Man (Harlequin Superromance), Don Mills, Ont.:Harlequin Enterprises,→ISBN,page337:
  That's a bunch ofmalarkey piled onmalarkey. I knew the minute I saw you there was something special about you, [...]

Translations

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nonsense; rubbish—see alsononsense

References

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^“malarkey,n.”, inOED Online⁠, Oxford:Oxford University Press,June 2000.
^Mark Memmot (12 October 2012), “What’s All this Malarkey about Malarkey?”, inNPR‎^[1], archived fromthe original on6 June 2019.