海角大神

Early in December, former Vice President Joe Biden embarked on a 鈥淣o Malarkey!鈥� campaign tour across Iowa. The word鈥檚 definition 鈥� 鈥渋nsincere or foolish talk鈥� 鈥� was emblazoned across the side of his tour bus, in case people were unfamiliar with this piece of 1920s slang.

No one, or at least no member of Congress, says malarkey more than Mr. Biden does. Its connotation is avuncular and proudly old-fashioned, implying that the 鈥測oungsters鈥� who spout it are inexperienced or foolish, not malicious. Saying 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a bunch of malarkey!鈥� is a kinder, funnier way to accuse someone of stretching the truth or lying.

The word malarkey was first used in the United States but may derive from the Irish surname Mullarkey. This origin clearly appeals to Mr. Biden, who often brings up his Irish heritage. If he goes barnstorming again, though, there are lots of equally wonderful words for 鈥渘onsense鈥� that would look great on a bus.

Many of these words, just like malarkey, contain a 鈥渒鈥� sound, which, by some measures, is the funniest sound in the English language. In his 1972 play, 鈥淭he Sunshine Boys,鈥� Neil Simon has a comedian explain this old vaudeville principle that words with 鈥渒鈥� in them are funny. 鈥淐up cake is funny ... Tomato is not funny,鈥� he declares. Pickle, chicken, Cleveland, and cockroach all make the list, too.聽

Words such as bunkum, its shortened form bunk, hokum, and poppycock take advantage of the humor inherent in the 鈥渒鈥� sound. What better way to suggest that something is silly or nonsensical than by referring to it with a word that itself makes people chuckle. Bunkum is the oldest and has an etymology that sounds like an urban legend, but happens to be true. When the U.S. House of Representatives was debating the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which divided the country into slaveholding and 鈥渇ree鈥� states, a representative from North Carolina began a long speech, in which he said very little. When he was asked to stop wasting everyone鈥檚 time, he replied that he could not, as he had to 鈥渕ake a speech for Buncombe,鈥� to show his constituents back home that he was doing his job. Buncombe quickly became bunkum and then bunk, all of which mean, again, 鈥渋nsincere or foolish talk.鈥�

In the early 20th century, bunkum combined with hocus-pocus to produce hokum. At first this was theater slang for 鈥渕elodramatic, exaggerated acting,鈥� but today it too denotes 鈥渘onsense.鈥� Poppycock can refer either to a brand of popcorn or to 鈥渆mpty talk or writing.鈥�

Next week, we鈥檒l talk about more words that make a folksy and amusing, yet potentially still strong, anti-nonsense statement. I would probably make a trip to Iowa to see the 鈥淣o Jiggery-pokery!鈥� tour roll through.