malarkey

Merriam-Webster Dictionaryが発表した、今年2020年のWord of the Yearは、

pandemic

となりました。

NEW YORK — If you were to choose a word that rose above most in 2020, which word would it be?

Ding, ding, ding: Merriam-Webster on Monday announced “pandemic” as its 2020 word of the year.

“That probably isn't a big shock,” Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, told The Associated Press.

(Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year comes as no surprise: 'pandemic.' Associated Press. November 30, 2020.)

新型コロナウィルス感染症の世界的流行を見た1年でした。特に驚きも無い、といったところでしょうか。

さて、Merriam-Websterの今年の単語について、その他のエントリを見ていますと、

malarkey

という単語が挙げられています。

Coronavirus was among runners up for word of the year as it jumped into the mainstream. Quarantine, asymptomatic, mamba, kraken, defund, antebellum, irregardless, icon, schadenfreude and malarkey were also runners up based on lookup spikes around specific events.

(ibid.)

この"malarkey"という単語ですが、アメリカ大統領選のディベートでバイデン候補が使ったことで検索数が急増したという背景があります。

Presidents can propel a word into the common vernacular—or at least the public eye. Ronald Reagan’s verbal tic of beginning responses with “Well…” and George W. Bush’s malapropism misunderestimated qualify, and President-elect Joe Biden’s use of marlarkey [sic] is on track to do the same.

Biden used malarkey several times during the vice-presidential debate with Paul Ryan in October 2012, sending many people to the dictionary to look the word up. He used it again during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, saying, of then-candidate Donald Trump:

He is trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That is a bunch of malarkey.

The word’s biggest increase in lookups in 2020 was when Biden used it during the presidential debate on October 22nd, when it spiked 3,200% over last year.

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary Onlineより引用)

"malarkey"とは、

調子のいい話、場当たりの話、くだらぬ話[文]； ばかげたこと、たわ言

（ランダムハウス英和辞書）

という意味だそうです。

語源は不詳です。

"malarky"というスペルもあるそうですが、Merriam-Websterの解説にある"marlarkey"というスペルは??