blarney
/ˈblɑːni
/noun [mass noun]
1Talk which aims to charm, flatter, or persuade (often considered typical of Irish people): it took all my Irish blarney to keep us out of court...
- Right now you're either dazzling the general populace with brilliance or charming them with blarney.
- There is an absence of celebrity backers on the pro side - but there is the fast-talking Irishman driving the Scottish bid team with charm, blarney and bundles of enthusiasm.
- I last saw Peggy in late July and she was as enthusiastic as ever - full of that Irish blarney that saw her through her life.
Synonyms
blandishments, honeyed words, smooth talk, soft words, flattery, cajolery, coaxing, wheedling, compliments;
fulsomeness, simpering, fawning, toadying, ingratiation, currying favour, inveiglement;
charm offensive
informal sweet talk, soft soap, smarm, spiel, ego massage, buttering up, cosying up, cuddling up
British informal flannel
Australian/New Zealand informal guyver, smoodging
archaic glozing, lip salve
rare cajolement
1.1Amusing and harmless nonsense: this story is perhaps just a bit of blarney...
- There was quite a bit of the old blarney left in this extremely complicated New Englandy-Irish lady yet.
- This sweet, straightforward story has enough Irish charm to overcome the occasional blarney.
- There's probably a wee bit of Irish blarney in that tale - but it's what helps make him a great tour guide.
verb (blarneys, blarneying, blarneyed) [with object]
Influence or persuade (someone) using charm and pleasant flattery: he went overboard in blarneying him into thinking that Joe considered him a nice guy...
- He had blarneyed the Jaguar driver into taking him along.
- Disguised first as a horse dealer and later as a holy man, he successfully blarneyed his way through regions, which were not a part of British-held India at the time.
- So he blarneyed his way into flight school and a couple of years later flew night missions over Vietnam in an F-4.
Origin
Late 18th century: named after Blarney, a castle near Cork in Ireland, where there is a stone said to give the gift of persuasive speech to anyone who kisses it.