Talk:malarkey

in catalan "mal arquet" has something to do whith exageration ... — This unsigned comment was added by 2A01:E35:2E11:9270:7978:EE20:959D:3116 (talk).

Irish Origins

The claim for a Greek origin for the term have been discredited. There are claims about an Irish origin but those remain unproven. 'Eric Partridge, who published A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 1937, theorized the word could have come from “malakia,” a modern Greek word. However, his theory was not considered a credible one. Some other theories were equally far-fetched. One theorist pointed out that it could have originated from the Irish family name Malarkey, which was renowned for its glibness of speech, but this suggestion contained no information about the origin of the word. Another British lexicographer of slang, Jonathon Green, asserted the word could have come from the Irish term, mullachan, which is a description for a ruffian or a boy who is strongly built. But that, too, was deemed unlikely.' https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/undetermined-origin-word-malarkey/ RobotBoy76 (talk) 20:08, 5 August 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if the word could come from Saint Malachy of the 12 century. There was a subsequent fabrication that he profesied that there were only be 112 future popes. 1f2 (talk) 07:43, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

I haven't heard that story but it's a good one. And a good story is a lot more fun than a bunch of facts. RobotBoy76 (talk) 02:20, 28 August 2023 (UTC)

Shouldn't we add to this entry the possibility that this word derives from the Irish surname Mullarkey (also spelled Malarkey)? 76.190.213.189 20:54, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

I looked at https://people.howstuffworks.com/malarkey.htm that has a plausible account of a gaelic origin in the U.S.A., so I guess that, the surname and the saint are all variously related, though the saint himself was not a liar by all accounts. I guess none of us are etymologists, but a reference the article of all these hints might be useful, given etymologists seem to have no idea.1f2 (talk) 1f2 (talk) 07:05, 29 January 2024 (UTC)