The baloney the seller gave.

[vectra]

Hello,

In the book 'Idioms for everyday use' by Milada Broukal there are such sentences:
'The used car I bought for three hundred dollars was a lemon. My friends said I was nuts to believe the baloney the seller gave.'
I am wondering about the word 'baloney'.
Answers.com gives the following definition of the word:
something that does not have or make sense.
I feel the word is not very often used, and as we use the above book at the refresher course I am reading this year, I would like to be sure that my doubts are justified.
I would change the word for 'crap'.
Am I right regarding the word 'baloney'?

Thank you in advance.

[konungursvia]

It's a substitute for bullshit. Many substitutes share the same initial sounds: mierda > miercoles; shoot > shit; damn > darn. This may have to do with the perception that bologna meat is not "real" meat but a processed, cheaper alternative.

[Rover_KE]

I would change the word for 'crap'.

Depending on your audience, you might find claptrap a bit more polite.

Rover

[vectra]

I will definitely introduce the term you suggested. The audience consists of post graduate students, who teach at the university, and candidates of sciences in Physics, Maths, Computer Sciences and so on.

Depending on your audience, you might find claptrap a bit more polite.

Rover

[Gillnetter]

Hello,

In the book 'Idioms for everyday use' by Milada Broukal there are such sentences:
'The used car I bought for three hundred dollars was a lemon. My friends said I was nuts to believe the baloney the seller gave.'
I am wondering about the word 'baloney'.
Answers.com gives the following definition of the word:
something that does not have or make sense.
I feel the word is not very often used, and as we use the above book at the refresher course I am reading this year, I would like to be sure that my doubts are justified.
I would change the word for 'crap'.
Am I right regarding the word 'baloney'?

Thank you in advance.

Let's not dismiss such an old, reliable and flexible friend as "baloney" so easily. "Baloney" has established itself in the vernacular because it can stand alone or with a supporting cast. Consider: That's baloney, that's a bunch of baloney, baloney! ba - lone - ey.

Words such as "crap", and "claptrap" are not as easily used. One is fairly well stuck with always placing supports around these words. One can say: That's a bunch of crap but not crap by itself, except in the form of a mild curse. Claptrap (do people really use this word? I have seen it in print for years but have never heard a person say it.) is even a weaker sister. I suppose one could say, "That's a lot of claptrap", but, probably, never "claptrap" alone. Baloney points to something that is not real while crap is merely a watered down version of a normal human function. By changing from baloney to other words, the sense of what is occurring certainly changes, don't you think?