[Idiom] shovelling manure

[Angie8]

Is "shovelling manure" a slang? Or it just means a farmer shovels manure?
I read this phrase from a book: "Voters are increasingly cynical of politicians who shovel value-loaded words around like a farmer shovelling manure."

 

[probus]

It can be used literally, but usually and in your example, it means "talk nonsense" or "talk rubbish".

Also "shovel manure" is a gentrification. The common usage is "shovel sh*t".

It is slang for sure, but more than that it should never be used except among the closest of friends. Used otherwise it would be offensive.

 

[5jj]

Is "shovelling manure" a slang? Or it just means a farmer shovels manure?
I read this phrase from a book: "Voters are increasingly cynical of politicians who shovel value-loaded words around like a farmer shovelling manure."

It is used literally here. The suggestion is that farmers very often shovel manure, and so cynical politicians very often use value-loaded words.

 

[BobK]

Note, Angie8. It's not 'a slang', although the error is so common that I think it may be acceptable in some variants (maybe Asian English?) to treat 'slang' as if it were countable.

b