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Baloney is a kind of sausage that many Americans eat often. The word also has another meaning in English. It is used to describe something—usually something someone says—that is false or wrong or foolish.
Baloney sausage comes from the name of the Italian city， Bologna. The city is famous for its sausage， a mixture of smoked， spiced meat from cows and pigs. But baloney sausage does not taste the same as beef or pork alone.
Some language experts think this different taste is responsible for the birth of the expression“baloney.” Baloney is an idea or statement that is nothing like the truth…in the same way that baloney sausage tastes nothing like the meat that is used to make it.
Baloney is a word often used by politicians to describe the ideas of their opponents.
The expression has been used for years. A former governor of New York state， Alfred Smith， criticized some claims by President Franklin Roosevelt about the successes of the Roosevelt administration. Smith said， “No matter how thin you slice it， it is still baloney.”
A similar word has almost the same meaning as baloney. It even sounds almost the same. The word is “blarney.” It began in Ireland about 1600.
The lord of Blarney Castle， near Cork， agreed to surrender the castle to British troops. But he kept making excuses for postponing the surrender. And he made them sound like very good excuses.“This is just more of the same blarney.”
The Irish castle now is famous for its Blarney stone. Kissing the stone is thought to give a person special powers of speech. One who has kissed the Blarney stone， so the story goes， can speak words of praise so smoothly and sweetly that you believe them， even when you know they are false.
A former Roman Catholic bishop of New York City， Fulton Sheen， once explained， “Baloney is praise so thick it cannot be true. And blarney is praise so thin we like it.”
Another expression is “pulling the wool over someone’s eyes.” It means to make someone believe something that is not true. The expression goes back to the days when men wore false hair， or wigs， similar to those worn by judges today in British courts.
The word “wool” was a popular joking word for hair. If you pulled a man’s wig over his eyes， he could not see what was happening. Today， when you “pull the wool over someone’s eyes，” he cannot see the truth.
baloney的意思是：荒谬，大香肠，骗人的鬼话。 “No matter how thin you slice it， it is still baloney.”意思是：不管切得多薄，香肠就是香肠。引申含义：不管你如何狡辩，都是胡扯。
blarney：奉承话；谄媚的意思。
布拉尼城堡（Blarney Castle）位于爱尔兰的布拉尼小镇，该镇位于全国第二大城市科克城附近。城堡最初的历史可追溯到公元10世纪，毁于1446年，但随后由芒斯特尔国王（King of Munster）科马克·麦卡瑟（Cormac MacCarthy）进行了重建。该城堡是爱尔兰历史最悠久的城堡之一，也是最牢固的堡垒之一，吸引着全世界各地的游客前往游览。另外，修建于1874年的布拉尼屋（Blarney House）如今也对外开放，这是一座苏格兰男爵样式的官邸，是非常值得一游的好去处。
布拉尼石（Blarney Stone）：布拉尼城堡里面有一块“神奇的石头”叫布拉尼石，人们叫它“巧言石”。据说如果吻了这块石头，这个人就会变得聪明、善于奉承、巧于哄骗（clever， flattering， or coaxing talk）。有那么一句话：“你今天满口都是恭维话，一定是吻过‘巧言石’了。（You are so full of compliments today that you must have kissed the Blarney stone.）”讲的就是这个意思。
巧言石“神奇功能”的起源并不十分清楚。但有一个故事是这样说的：一次，苏格兰国王救起一位将要淹死的老妇。为了报答，老妇就带国王到这块石头上，施展符咒，要国王亲吻这块石头。从此，这位国王就有了一种甜言蜜语的能力（the ability to sweet talk），他对任何人讲过话以后，那个人就会心甘情愿地为他做事。
后来，爱尔兰和英国之间有过不少争执。在外交讨价还价之际，据说爱尔兰官员给了不少无法兑现的美好承诺。最后，无可奈何的伊丽莎白女王只好说，爱尔兰那里有Blarney Stone嘛。
如今，Blarney Stone已经成了旅游胜地。“巧言石”的传说是有趣的，作为一个景点十分适宜。但如果满世界都是哄骗人的花言巧语，那可不是一件好事。
“Baloney is praise so thick it cannot be true. And blarney is praise so thin we like it.”意思是：baloney（胡扯、瞎说）如此夸张，它不可能是真实的；而blarney（奉承话）如此单薄（意思是极易被看破），我们却都喜欢。
“pull the wool over someone’s eyes”直译就是：用羊毛遮住了某人的眼睛，这样TA就什么都看不见了。因此引申为“蒙蔽某人，欺骗某人”的意思。
Baloney sausage comes from the name of the Italian city， Bologna. The city is famous for its sausage， a mixture of smoked， spiced meat from cows and pigs. But baloney sausage does not taste the same as beef or pork alone.
Some language experts think this different taste is responsible for the birth of the expression“baloney.” Baloney is an idea or statement that is nothing like the truth…in the same way that baloney sausage tastes nothing like the meat that is used to make it.
Baloney is a word often used by politicians to describe the ideas of their opponents.
The expression has been used for years. A former governor of New York state， Alfred Smith， criticized some claims by President Franklin Roosevelt about the successes of the Roosevelt administration. Smith said， “No matter how thin you slice it， it is still baloney.”
A similar word has almost the same meaning as baloney. It even sounds almost the same. The word is “blarney.” It began in Ireland about 1600.
The lord of Blarney Castle， near Cork， agreed to surrender the castle to British troops. But he kept making excuses for postponing the surrender. And he made them sound like very good excuses.“This is just more of the same blarney.”
The Irish castle now is famous for its Blarney stone. Kissing the stone is thought to give a person special powers of speech. One who has kissed the Blarney stone， so the story goes， can speak words of praise so smoothly and sweetly that you believe them， even when you know they are false.
A former Roman Catholic bishop of New York City， Fulton Sheen， once explained， “Baloney is praise so thick it cannot be true. And blarney is praise so thin we like it.”
Another expression is “pulling the wool over someone’s eyes.” It means to make someone believe something that is not true. The expression goes back to the days when men wore false hair， or wigs， similar to those worn by judges today in British courts.
The word “wool” was a popular joking word for hair. If you pulled a man’s wig over his eyes， he could not see what was happening. Today， when you “pull the wool over someone’s eyes，” he cannot see the truth.
baloney的意思是：荒谬，大香肠，骗人的鬼话。 “No matter how thin you slice it， it is still baloney.”意思是：不管切得多薄，香肠就是香肠。引申含义：不管你如何狡辩，都是胡扯。
blarney：奉承话；谄媚的意思。
布拉尼城堡（Blarney Castle）位于爱尔兰的布拉尼小镇，该镇位于全国第二大城市科克城附近。城堡最初的历史可追溯到公元10世纪，毁于1446年，但随后由芒斯特尔国王（King of Munster）科马克·麦卡瑟（Cormac MacCarthy）进行了重建。该城堡是爱尔兰历史最悠久的城堡之一，也是最牢固的堡垒之一，吸引着全世界各地的游客前往游览。另外，修建于1874年的布拉尼屋（Blarney House）如今也对外开放，这是一座苏格兰男爵样式的官邸，是非常值得一游的好去处。
布拉尼石（Blarney Stone）：布拉尼城堡里面有一块“神奇的石头”叫布拉尼石，人们叫它“巧言石”。据说如果吻了这块石头，这个人就会变得聪明、善于奉承、巧于哄骗（clever， flattering， or coaxing talk）。有那么一句话：“你今天满口都是恭维话，一定是吻过‘巧言石’了。（You are so full of compliments today that you must have kissed the Blarney stone.）”讲的就是这个意思。
巧言石“神奇功能”的起源并不十分清楚。但有一个故事是这样说的：一次，苏格兰国王救起一位将要淹死的老妇。为了报答，老妇就带国王到这块石头上，施展符咒，要国王亲吻这块石头。从此，这位国王就有了一种甜言蜜语的能力（the ability to sweet talk），他对任何人讲过话以后，那个人就会心甘情愿地为他做事。
后来，爱尔兰和英国之间有过不少争执。在外交讨价还价之际，据说爱尔兰官员给了不少无法兑现的美好承诺。最后，无可奈何的伊丽莎白女王只好说，爱尔兰那里有Blarney Stone嘛。
如今，Blarney Stone已经成了旅游胜地。“巧言石”的传说是有趣的，作为一个景点十分适宜。但如果满世界都是哄骗人的花言巧语，那可不是一件好事。
“Baloney is praise so thick it cannot be true. And blarney is praise so thin we like it.”意思是：baloney（胡扯、瞎说）如此夸张，它不可能是真实的；而blarney（奉承话）如此单薄（意思是极易被看破），我们却都喜欢。
“pull the wool over someone’s eyes”直译就是：用羊毛遮住了某人的眼睛，这样TA就什么都看不见了。因此引申为“蒙蔽某人，欺骗某人”的意思。