If Joe Biden had a catchphrase, “a bunch of malarkey” might well be it. In a vice-presidential debate against Paul Ryan in October 2012, Ryan offered “a bunch of malarkey” about Libya, according to Biden’s view. [Joe Biden’s complete Democratic convention speech, annotated]Biden once explained that malarkey is synonymous with stuff — though, more accurately, that stuff is nonsense. There’s poppycock — American origin — codswallop (British, as it were). The phrase made a cameo in the vice president’s speech on Wednesday, when Biden attacked Donald Trump for populist posturing.

Source: Washington Post July 28, 2016 06:47 UTC