horse hockey
1
9.9
- noun
- /hɔrs ˈhɑki/
- Archaic
:
tonterías
- So, as a member of the above group, I say very politely, horse hockey!
Examples
-
I've never heard so much horse hockey in all my life.
Blog text (3) -
When I heard his claims about the event, I knew it was nothing but horse hockey.
-
This is such horse hockey.
Blog text (9) -
This is all horse hockey.
Blog text (21) -
Why not mention that in this New Guard vs. Old Guard horse hockey?
Blog text (26) -
Well, hogwash and horse hockey to all that!
Academic text (2002) -
The argument that lower taxes encourage job creators to create jobs is a load of horse hockey.
Blog text (32) -
Frankly, that is pure, unadulterated horse hockey!
Blog text (2) -
Well, since the RINOs are trying to pull this horse-hockey during the convention, what better time to comment?
Blog text (5) -
That explanation is just a bunch of horse hockey and doesn't make any sense.
Synonyms
45
9.9
Things people say or do that are false and rude
10
9.9
Silly talk that is not true
1
9.9
Talk that is not true or is silly
1
4.3
A rude informal phrase meaning nonsense or something untrue
A short shout to show you do not believe something or are annoyed
A false statement said on purpose to trick people
Something very silly and not true
A story or idea that is untrue and silly
Antonyms
How Ridiculous
Surface Forms
Morphology
horse + hockey
The constituents 'horse' (animal) and 'hockey' (sport) give no compositional clue to the meaning 'nonsense'; the sense is idiomatic and dismissive rather than a literal combination. This phrase is a regional/slang euphemism and its meaning cannot be predicted by a B1 learner who only knows the individual words, so it is opaque.
Etymology
Horse hockey may come from a playful image of a horse's droppings, where people picked the silly word hockey instead of a rude word for dung to make the insult milder. That's why horse hockey is used to call something 'nonsense'.