bullshit

English

Etymology

bull +‎ shit. In use since the 1920s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʊlʃɪt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Noun

bullshit (uncountable)

1. (literally) The faeces of a bull.
   • 2016 November 6, “Multilevel Marketing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 29, HBO:

     Oh, I get it! So it’s not a pyramid, it’s just pyramid-shaped. You know, like a Dorito, or an Angry Bird, or just a pile of bullshit.

2. (vulgar, slang) False or exaggerated statements made to impress and deceive the listener rather than inform; nonsense.

   Synonyms: BS, bull, bulldada, bullpucky, bushwah, malarkey; see also Thesaurus:nonsense

   Don't pay any attention to him. He talks a lot of bullshit.

   • 1975, “Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)”, in The Heat Is On, performed by The Isley Brothers:

     And when I rolled with the punches I got knocked on the ground / By all this bullshit going down

3. (vulgar, slang) A card game in which the object is to bluff about cards laid down and to determine when one's opponents are bluffing.

   Synonyms: BS, cheat, I doubt it

   Anyone want to play a few hands of bullshit?

4. (vulgar, slang) An object of frustration and/or disgust, often caused by a perceived deception.

   That's total bullshit! I called your office and they said you never came in!

5. (rhetoric) Statements that may be true but misleading nonetheless.
6. (philosophy) Statements made without any particular reference to their truth value.

Derived terms

• bullshido
• bullshit bingo
• bullshit job
• bullshitter
• bullshitty
• bullshoot
• bullshot
• money talks, bullshit walks

 

Descendants

• → Czech: bulšit

Translations

faeces of a bull

• Finnish: härän sonta

false or exaggerated statements — See also translations at nonsense

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic:

  Gulf Arabic: خَرَابِيط‎ (χɐˈrɑːbitˁ), حَچِي فَاضِي‎ (ħɐʃ͡ʒi fɑːðˤi)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: collonades f pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 廢話 (zh), 废话 (zh) (fèihuà), 狗屁 (zh) (gǒupì), 放屁 (zh) (fàngpì)

• Czech: kecy m, kravina (cs) f, nesmysl (cs) m
• Danish: pis (da) n
• Dutch: lulkoek (nl), onzin (nl), bullshit (nl)
• Esperanto: fekaĵo (in context, vulgar), stultaĵo, falsaĵo, merdo (in context, vulgar, proscribed)
• Finnish: paskapuhe (fi), hevonpaska (fi), soopa (fi), sonta (fi), paska (fi)
• French: conneries (fr) f pl, baratin (fr) m
• Georgian: ყლეობა (q̇leoba)
• German: Quatsch (de) m
• Greek: μαλακίες (el) f pl (malakíes), μπούρδες (el) f pl (boúrdes)
• Hungarian: süketelés, duma (hu), süket duma, hülyítés, kamu (hu), blöff (hu), humbug, mese habbal, szófosás (hu)
• Icelandic: kjaftæði (is) n, bull (is) n, þvættingur m
• Indonesian: cuma ngomong gede, omong besar, omong kosong (id)
• Irish: cacamas
• Italian: cazzata (it) f (vulg.), stronzata (it) f (vulg.), coglionata (it) f (rare)(vulg.), minchiata (it) f (vulg.)
• Japanese: でたらめ (ja) (detarame)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 헛소리 (ko) (heotsori)

• Latin: muscerdae f pl
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: nesąmonė f pl
• Macedonian: срање n (sranje)
• Malay: mengarut
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: łį́į́ʼ bichąąʼ, dóola bichąąʼ, tʼáá ádzaagóó
• Nepali: वाहियात (vāhiyāt), हावा (ne) (hāwā)
• Norwegian: pisspreik, okseavføring, bull (no)
• Persian: کسشعر‎ (kosešer, kosšer)
• Polish: gówno prawda (pl), pierdoły (pl) pl, pieprzenie (pl) n, sranie (pl) c (vulgar), bzdura (pl) f, pierdolenie (pl) c (vulgar)
• Portuguese: besteira (pt) f, asneira (pt) f, merda (pt) f
• Romanian: rahat (ro), căcat (ro) n, vrăjeală f
• Russian: фигня́ (ru) f (fignjá), хуета́ (ru) f (xujetá) (vulgar), пиздёж (ru) m (pizdjóž) (vulgar), хуйня́ (ru) m (xujnjá) (vulgar), херня́ (ru) m (xernjá) (vulgar), чепуха́ (ru) m (čepuxá), бред си́вой кобы́лы (ru) m (bred sívoj kobýly) (lit.: delirium of a grey mare), чушь соба́чья f (čušʹ sobáčʹja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: срање n

  Roman: sranje (sh) n

• Spanish: tontería (es) f, pendejadas (es) f, idiotez (es) f, huevada (es) f, mierda (es) f, caca (es) f, chamullo (es) m, gilipollez, leseras f (Chile), chorrada f, bosta (es), mierda de toro
• Swedish: skitsnack (sv), strunt (sv)
• Thai: ล้อเล่น (th) (lór lên)
• Turkish: saçmalık (tr), palavra (tr)
• Ukrainian: маячня (uk) f (majačnja)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: cachu rwtsh m

card game

• Finnish: fusku (fi)
• Greek: σκατά (el) n pl (skatá)
• Icelandic: lygari (is) m
• Japanese: ダウト (dauto)
• Romanian: trombon (ro) n

• Russian: верю-не-верю (verju-ne-verju) (I believe - I don't believe)
• Spanish: desconfío (es) m, mentiroso (es) m
• Swedish: bluffstopp
• Turkish: blöf (tr)

object of frustration

• Arabic: هُرَاء‎ (hurāʾ)

  Gulf Arabic: مَصْخَرَة‎ (mɐsˤχɐrə), مَهْزَلَة‎ (mɐhzɐlə)

• Finnish: paska (fi)
• French: n’importe quoi (fr) m
• Japanese: でたらめ (ja) (detarame)
• Korean: 엉터리 (ko) (eongteori)
• Portuguese: palhaçada (pt)

• Russian: пиздёж (ru) m (pizdjóž), хуйня́ (ru) m (xujnjá), херня́ (ru) m (xernjá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: срање n

  Roman: sranje (sh) n

• Turkish: saçmalık (tr)

See also

• apeshit
• batshit
• bearshit
• birdshit
• bullcrap
• catshit
• chickenshit
• cowshit
• dogshit
• donkeyshit
• goat shit
• horseshit
• pigshit
• ratshit
• sheepshit
• whaleshit
• wormshit
• See also Thesaurus:nonsense

Adjective

bullshit (comparative more bullshit, superlative most bullshit)

1. (vulgar, slang) Absurd, irrational, or nonsensical. Most often said of speech, information, or content.

   That's the most bullshit excuse I've ever heard.

   bulllshit jobs

Verb

bullshit (third-person singular simple present bullshits, present participle bullshitting, simple past and past participle bullshitted or bullshit or (rare) bullshat)

1. (transitive, intransitive, vulgar, slang) To tell lies, exaggerate; to mislead; to deceive.

   I think you're bullshitting. Let’s just call your office and see if you even came in.

   You’re bullshitting me. I called your office and you never even came in.

2. (intransitive, vulgar, slang) To have casual conversation with no real point; to shoot the breeze

   I will probably just go and bullshit with Joe for awhile.

3. (intransitive, vulgar, slang) To come up with on the spot, to improvise poorly.

   We just went on stage and bullshitted the whole concert because we didn't know any songs.

Synonyms

• (all senses): crap (Indian English)

Translations

to tell lies, exaggerate

• Finnish: puhua paskaa
• French: ^{(please verify)} dire des conneries, exagérer (fr), baratiner (fr)
• Greek: δουλεύω (el) (doulévo) (somebody)
• Hungarian: átvág (hu), szédít (hu), linkel, hülyít, szívat
• Indonesian: ngomong besar
• Italian: dire cazzate
• Javanese: nggedebus
• Latvian: diršana

• Maori: paraparau
• Polish: pierdolić (pl), pieprzyć (pl)
• Portuguese: enganar (pt) m
• Russian: пизде́ть (ru) (pizdétʹ), дури́ть (ru) (durítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: srati (sh)
• Spanish: mentir (es), fanfarronear (es)
• Thai: เว่อ (wêr), โม้ (th) (móh)
• Turkish: saçmalamak (tr)

to have casual conversation with no real point

• Dutch: ouwehoeren (nl), lullen (nl)
• Finnish: puhua paskaa, jauhaa paskaa (fi)
• French: blablater (fr)
• Hungarian: szövegel (hu), süketel (hu)
• Italian: cazzeggiare (it)
• Latvian: sūdu gvelšana

• Polish: pierdolić (pl), pieprzyć (pl)
• Portuguese: bater papo (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: пизде́ть (ru) (pizdétʹ), база́рить (ru) (bazáritʹ), чеса́ть языко́м (ru) (česátʹ jazykóm) (to scratch with tongue)
• Swedish: prata strunt, snacka skit (sv)
• Thai: ไร้สาระ (ráisăará)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dire coglionate

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} huevear (es), ^{(please verify)} decir tonterías (es)

Interjection

bullshit!

1. (vulgar, slang) An expression of disbelief or doubt at what one has just heard.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:bullshit

Translations

expression of disbelief

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 狗屁 (zh) (gǒupì)

• Dutch: onzin (nl)
• Finnish: paskanmarjat (fi), ja paskat, vitut (fi), kissan viikset (fi), katin kontit (fi) (non-vulgar alternatives)
• French: mon œil (fr), n'importe quoi (fr), mon cul (fr), tu parles (fr), ben voyons (fr)
• Greek: μαλακίες (el) (malakíes), πούτσες (poútses)
• Indonesian: cuma ngomong gede
• Latvian: nedirs
• Lithuanian: nesąmonė f

• Macedonian: не сери (ne seri)
• Polish: pierdolisz!, gówno prawda! (pl)
• Portuguese: mentira (pt) f, nada a ver (pt)
• Russian: пизди́шь (ru) (pizdíšʹ), не пизди́ (ne pizdí), хуя́ (xujá)
• Serbo-Croatian: sereš!
• Spanish: tonterías (es) f pl, pendejadas (es) f pl, huevadas f pl, chorradas f pl, mierda (es) f, mierda de torro
• Swedish: skit (sv)
• Thai: ขี้โม้ (th) (kêe móh)

Anagrams

• shitbull

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French

Etymology

From English bullshit.

Pronunciation

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

bullshit f (uncountable)

1. (Quebec, colloquial) bullshit