People who talk “blarney” are saying things they do not mean. Usually the expression blarney is applied to flattery designed to gain a favor.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then it's the Blarney stone and four generations of one family living in the same house.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2013
The timekeepers must have kissed the Blarney stone.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sylvia blushed once more, from mortification this time, and registered a vow to adopt a new tone with this disciple of the Blarney stone, and put an end forthwith to sentimental confidences.
From More about Pixie by Groome, William H. C.
As for the Blarney stone, his previous actions toward it must have been pronounced.
From The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Million by Henry, O.
They asked us if we knew which was the Blarney stone, and we hastened to point it out to them, and explained the process of kissing it.
From The Charm of Ireland by Stevenson, Burton Egbert
There I was, dancing a wild Irish jig to a live Irish band in Blarney Stone, a small, energetic pub in Fountain Valley on the evening of March 17.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
Here’s Kathleen Kennedy, awkwardly twisting upside down in a skirt to kiss Ireland’s Blarney Stone.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2018
Borrow one of the Element’s free bikes to pedal to dinner at the Blarney Stone Pub, or walk next door to Tru Blu Social Club.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 15, 2018
“I wouldn’t tell anyone about the Blarney Stone gatherings,” Riska said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2010
I can’t wait to show them my wooden shoes from Holland, my Blarney Stone from Ireland and all the pictures.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
