pile of horse manure
- noun
- /paɪl əv hɔrs məˈnʊr/
- Informal
:
tontería
- Don't believe him; his story is a pile of horse manure.
Examples
-
That excuse he gave you is a total pile of horse manure.
-
That's a pile of horse manure!
-
She dismissed the rumor as just a pile of horse manure.
-
What a pile of horse manure!
-
Don't believe him; his story is a pile of horse manure.
-
She dismissed the rumor as just a pile of horse manure.
-
That excuse he gave you is a total pile of horse manure.
Synonyms
578
2.5
Words or ideas that do not make sense
48
7.5
Talk that is not true or is silly
22
6.7
Nonsense talk that is not true
16
7.4
Untrue or silly talk that people should not believe
10
9.9
Silly talk that is not true
9
9.7
Something not true that people say to fool others
6
5.7
To say things that are not true or that make no sense
2
9.9
A rude expression that says something is not true
1
9.9
Talk or ideas that are untrue and not worth believing
1
4.3
A rude informal phrase meaning nonsense or something untrue
1
9.9
Talk that is not true or is silly
1
6.0
Things people say that are completely untrue or pointless
Words that are not true and have no value
Complete nonsense that is not true and not believable
False talk meant to trick people
A false statement said on purpose to trick people
A large amount of nonsense that is clearly untrue
Something very silly and not true
Talk that is false and hard to believe
Talk that is false and makes no sense
Words or ideas that are complete nonsense and worthless
Something that is not true or important
Antonyms
How Ridiculous
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal constituents ('pile' + 'horse' + 'manure') readily evoke a heap of dung, which provides a negative/derogatory image that can cue a figurative meaning like 'worthless' or 'rubbish'. However, the specific reading 'nonsense/blatantly untrue' is a metaphorical extension rather than a directly compositional meaning, so many B1 learners who know the words may need prior exposure to map the image to the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
The phrase pile of horse manure comes from the clear image of a big, smelly pile of horse manure on a farm. Calling an idea a 'pile of horse manure' compares it to rubbish and shows you think it is 'nonsense' or 'not true'.