Pundits are still arguing about who won last night’s vice presidential debate. But one sign of how the public received it is what people Googled as they watched the debate.
And that brings us to our number of the day: Three.
The third-highest debate-related search term last night was “malarkey.” That term characterized the whole evening. It became this week’s Big Bird.
“Malarkey” is an old slang word of possible Irish or Greek origin, meaning deceptive talk or nonsense. And Paul Ryan was — shall we say — full of it.
Just for example: Biden said “malarkey” for the first time when Ryan complained about defense cuts, and then the vice president pointed out that Ryan’s budget cuts embassy security by $300 million.
Another big example: Ryan said Obama opposed Iran sanctions, even though the president actually tightened sanctions last summer. Some pundits are coming down on Biden for laughing at that. But some lies are just laughable.
And sometimes, “malarkey” is exactly the word you’re looking for.
