They're wonderful. They're obscure. They're often quite pointless.
When:
Lookups spiked on October 11, 2012.
Why:
Vice President Joe Biden used the word malarkey several times during the vice-presidential debate with Congressman Paul Ryan.
Malarkey means "insincere or foolish talk" or "nonsense."
Biden and Ryan share an Irish heritage, and malarkey is associated with Irish-American English. The word's true origins are not clear, however: the word resembles an Irish last name (sometimes spelled Mullarkey) but could have come from a similar-sounding Greek word or even Irish slang. One thing is certain: the word was used first in America, not Ireland.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
