Now that Vice President Biden has restored "malarkey" to the national lexicon, let's look at some other historical synonyms for bullshit.
Baloney; bologna
For the word meaning “nonsense,” baloney is the spelling… For the sausage, bologna (pronounced like baloney) is the spelling… In what appears to be an amalgam of the two words, baloney is sometimes misspelled boloney.
—from Garner’s Modern American Usage, 3rd edition, 2009
Bogus
For counterfeit, or false. The word is slang; keep it out.
—from Ambrose Bierce’s Write It Right, 1909
A liquor made of rum and molasses.
—from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
Bunkum, buncombe
The first spelling is the prevalent one, often shortened to bunk. The second, from an American place-name, is the original; but the word is equally significant with either spelling, and no purpose is served by trying to re-establish the less usual.
—from Fowler’s Modern English Usage, 2nd edition, 1965
Slang
The preterite of sling.
David slang a stone, and smote the Philistine.
—from Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755
Have an aspect of usage you want examined? Email me.
Image remixed from Blue Monocle.