bull butter
- noun
- /bʊl ˈbʌtər/
- Archaic
:
tonterías
- I don't have time for your bull butter, so just answer the question honestly.
Examples
-
He gave me some bull butter excuse about why he was late again.
-
That story is just bull butter!
-
Everyone knew her story was just a load of bull butter from the start.
-
I can't believe you fell for that bull butter.
-
Everyone knew her story was just a load of bull butter from the start.
-
He gave me some bull butter excuse about why he was late again.
-
I don't have time for your bull butter, so just answer the question honestly.
Synonyms
94
9.8
False or silly talk meant to trick people
48
7.5
Talk that is not true or is silly
9
9.7
Something not true that people say to fool others
1
9.9
Talk that is false or silly
Something someone says that is not true
Talk that is not true and meant to trick people
Talk that is false and hard to believe
Talk that is false and makes no sense
Complete nonsense that is not true and not believable
A false statement said on purpose to trick people
Antonyms
How False
Surface Forms
Morphology
bull + butter
The word 'bull' already carries the sense of false or insincere talk, so a learner who knows that could infer that the compound refers to nonsense. However 'butter' has no compositional role here (it is a playful/euphemistic replacement), so the exact meaning and register are not fully predictable from the constituents alone. Because the gist can be guessed from 'bull' but the construction is non-literal and nonce-like, it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The slang bull butter likely comes from the rude phrase bullshit, where people replaced the rude word shit with the harmless butter to avoid swearing. Because it keeps the idea of a 'bull' but uses a milder word, the phrase now means 'nonsense' or something not to be believed.