無論明天美國大選發生什麼事，有一個結果是肯定的：將會有很多“malarkey 胡言亂語”！這是Joe Biden 拜登最喜歡的用字之一（美國喜劇綜藝《週六夜現場》甚至曾以此開玩笑 - 影片連結： https://fb.watch/1pKxww7FHP/ ）。他常指責反對者 'saying a load of malarkey 胡扯一通！' 。 Marlarkey 意為 'nonsense 胡言亂語' 或 'rubbish 鬼話'，但也可意指 'doing stupid or evil things 做蠢事或壞事'。由於總統川普不惜一切的想保住權力，我們幾乎可以斷言下禮拜會看到 malarkey !

Whatever happens tomorrow in the US Election, there is one result that is certain: there is going to be a LOT of 'malarkey'! This is one of Joe Biden's favorite words (the US comedy show Saturday Night Live even joked on this - see this video link! https://fb.watch/1pKxww7FHP/). He often accuses his opponents of 'saying a load of malarkey'. Marlarkey means 'nonsense' or 'rubbish', but it could also mean 'doing stupid or evil things'. With President Trump desperate to keep power no matter what, we are almost guaranteed to be seeing malarkey next week!

這個字的起源不可考 ! 它可能來自希臘 'malakos' 一字，意指柔軟；也可能來自愛爾蘭的名字 'Mullarkey'。不過，它最有可能來自愛爾蘭裔美國人Thomas Dorgan 的漫畫，他在書中創造了一個名為 'Milarkey' 虛構的地方 ( 據說他可能也發明了 'hot dog 熱狗' 一詞，儘管這兩個字也可能都不是他的發明)。

The word's origins are uncertain! It might come from Greek 'malakos' meaning soft. It might come from an Irish name 'Mullarkey'. It most likely comes from cartoons by Irish-America Thomas Dorgan who created a fictional place, 'Milarkey' (people also think he may have invented the word 'hot dog' - though he probably did not invent either word).

不管這個字出自何處，這個有趣的字至今仍被廣泛使用。我們可以說 'I don't believe all that malarkey'，意思是我不相信聽到的那些鬼話。'There will be lots of malarkey in the US election 在美國大選中會有很多詭計、佈局和下流的把戲' 。

Wherever it comes from, this funny word is still much in use today. We can say, 'I don't believe all that malarkey' to mean you don't believe the nonsense you heard. 'There will be lots of malarkey in the US election', means schemes, plots and devious tricks.

怎麼記住它呢 ? 首先，前半部 'mala' 聽起來像中文的藥膳火鍋 'malaguo 麻辣鍋' 。而 'key' 則非常簡單，意指鑰匙或關鍵。所以記住這個好笑的句子 : "The key to a good malaguo is filling it with lots of red malarkey! 麻辣鍋美味的關鍵就是整鍋加滿紅通通的鬼扯蛋！" 這個記憶提示包含多個串連可以幫你回想這個詞，mala ( malaguo 麻辣鍋) + r ( red 紅色) + key (關鍵)。即使你忘記了一部份，剩下的部份也會觸發你的記憶，填補遺忘的部份 !

How to remember it? Well the first part 'mala' sounds like Chinese medicine hot pot 'malaguo'. And 'key' is an easy word meaning keys or something important. So remember this silly sentence: "The key to a good malaguo is filling it with lots of red malarkey!" This memory tip has lots of hooks to help you recall the word - mala (from malaguo) + r (from red) + key. Even if you forget some of it, the rest will trigger your memory to fill in the missing parts!

留意明天 ! 將有連篇的胡言亂語 !

Watch carefully tomorrow! There's going to be malarkey!