blarney
- flattering or wheedling talk; cajolery.
- deceptive or misleading talk; nonsense; hooey: a lot of blarney about why he was broke.
- to flatter or wheedle; use blarney: He blarneys his boss with the most shameless compliments.
Origin of blarney
Related Words
honeyfawningexaggerationblandishmentincenseadulationoilbaloneywheedlingcoaxingingratiationoverpraiseeyewashcajoleryinveiglementExamples from the Web for blarney
Historical Examples
All her share of the blarney of Ireland began to roll from the mellow tip of her tongue.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
But why shouldn't you blarney with a gentleman, when you began by saving his life?
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
Blarney her cliverly, and work her to a foam against the McBrides.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
If anybody wanted money, he kissed the Blarney Stone and applied to Pete.
The ManxmanHall Caine
The Irish race appear to have kissed the Blarney stone in globo.
My New CurateP.A. Sheehan
blarney
- flattering talk
- to cajole with flattery; wheedle
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for blarney
n.
1796, from Blarney Stone (which is said to make a persuasive flatterer of any who kiss it), in a castle near Cork, Ireland. As Bartlett explains it, the reason is the difficulty of the feat of kissing the stone where it sits high up in the battlement: "to have ascended it, was proof of perseverence, courage, and agility, whereof many are supposed to claim the honor who never achieved the adventure." So to have kissed the Blarney Stone came to mean "to tell wonderful tales" ["Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]. The word reached wide currency through Lady Blarney, the smooth-talking flatterer in Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield" (1766). As a verb from 1803.
blarney
Smooth, flattering talk, often nonsensical or deceptive. Based on an Irish legend that those who kiss the Blarney Stone will become skilled in flattery.