What does boloney mean?
Boloney is an informal English word that most often means nonsense — foolish, exaggerated, or plainly untrue talk. Saying "that's boloney" signals skeptical dismissal, usually in a casual, slightly humorous way rather than with real hostility. The word doubles as a name for a soft, smoked sausage better known under its standard spelling, bologna, itself named after the Italian city of Bologna. In fact, both senses trace back to that city: the sausage was first sold there, and American slang stretched its name to cover anything regarded as filler or rubbish, much like the meat's reputation as a humble lunchmeat. The variant spelling "baloney" has largely overtaken "boloney" in modern usage, especially in the United States, though both appear in print. Because of its informal tone, boloney suits conversation, journalism, and comedy far better than formal writing, where terms like "nonsense" or "falsehood" are preferred.
nounBoloney is chiefly an informal term for nonsense or foolish talk, as in "that's a load of boloney." It also refers to a smooth-textured smoked sausage, more commonly spelled bologna.
- Nonsense; foolish or untrue talk.
- The smoked sausage also known as bologna.
"His excuse about the traffic was pure boloney — he simply overslept."
"Don't listen to his sales pitch — it's nothing but boloney."
"She fried up a sandwich with a thick slice of boloney and some mustard."
Rarely pluralized; when referring to multiple sausages the singular mass-noun use is typical, and the figurative sense of nonsense is uncountable.
"The deli counter displayed several different boloneys alongside the salamis."
A whole city gave its name to this sausage — and then America turned it into a byword for talking rubbish.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of boloney
Boloney derives from bologna, the smoked Italian-style sausage named after Bologna, the city in northern Italy famous for its cuisine. The spelling alteration reflects American pronunciation of the sausage's name, which became a common lunchmeat in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From there the word developed a figurative sense: just as the sausage was seen as cheap, filler food, "boloney" came to mean empty or worthless talk. The closely related form "baloney" arose as another respelling of the same pronunciation and is now the more common version.
How boloney is actually used
Informal register throughout. The spelling "boloney" is considerably less common than "baloney," which is the preferred form in American English for both senses. As a term for nonsense, it carries a mildly dismissive but often good-humored connotation rather than outright insult.
Easily confused with boloney
"Baloney" is the standard spelling of the nonsense/sausage word; "boloney" is a less common variant of the same word.
"Bologna" refers specifically to the sausage (named after the Italian city), while "boloney" usually means nonsense.