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Problem

As non-native speaker, I unfortunately picked up the word "bullshit" as an incredibly versatile drop-in for many, less common, non-profanities. There are already multiple questions on this site asking for alternatives to "bullshit", however, I couldn't find a question asking about the specific meanings, for which I was looking for a replacements. This question is meant to be supplementary to other "How to replace the word bullshit" questions on this site that don't address those specific meanings of the word.

The problem I have is that whatever alternative I come up with, it either loses a bit of meaning in translation or sounds unnatural for the modern speaker. The biggest problem is that the synonyms I find are either other profanities or miss the correct tone, making the sentences feel sterile.

For the answer to be accepted, it has to provide a replacement word or phrase that is:

  1. not considered profanity
  2. sounds natural in casual speech (don't feel out of place in a comment on a website)
  3. preserves the tone of the statement (at least somewhat, perfect match probably doesn't exist)

Definitions

Below are two definitions of the word "bullshit" I'm trying to replace:

bullshit - upsetting and unfair circumstances, especially concerning events involving chance; indicates, that speaker is angry, as in:

I lost the game due to some random bullshit, missing fifty-fifty chance six times in a row.

bullshit - blatant and ineffective lie, usually with malicious intent; indicates disrespect towards the bullshitter, as in:

The entire incident was caught on tape played in front of him, yet he still tried to bullshit his way out of the situation. Why would he even try to deceive a police officer, who are literally trained in bullshiting suspects?

What I tried

As per page rules:

I tried to search for synonyms on Merriam-Webster (no results) and Thesaurus.com (only acknowledges the definition "(vulgar) lies"). "Horseshit" yields no results.

As for considered synonyms:

  1. For the noun, I usually use nonsense as a drop-in replacement for "bullshit", however "nonsense" isn't necessarily unfair (although being affected by "nonsense" is usually upsetting). Misfortune or bad luck has the opposite problem, being literally unfair but too sterile.
  2. For the verb, the obvious synonym would be to lie/to deceive, however "bullshitting" is a specific type of deception. Hogwash or gibberish come close but I've never seen those words used as a verb. To make things up is the most literal replacement, but it lacks negative connotation.
Reverent Lapwing
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    I'm familiar with We're in the shit** (we're in a bad situation), but I've never heard of *bullshit* being used like that. It's primarily an AmE usage anyway, but so far as I know *bullshit* always means "ineffective lie" or similar. – FumbleFingers Sep 21 '22 at 12:30
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    *...to bullshit* covers a range of meanings (bluff, fabricate, lie, waffle,...). The exact "synonym" varies according to the exact context and intended meaning. – FumbleFingers Sep 21 '22 at 12:35
  • @FumbleFingers I think it's mostly used in video games this way but I know it's used colloquially as well, for example commenting "Man, that was bullshit!" about a referee's call in a soccer match or about a play, that should result in a loss, but resulted in a goal instead. – Reverent Lapwing Sep 21 '22 at 12:38
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    Well, there's always "BS". – Hot Licks Sep 21 '22 at 12:44
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    This is a thoughtful and well composed question that adheres to site guidelines and does not deserve closure (one person thinks it does as a matter of opinion). Any discussion of synonyms, single words and offensive language (particularly) involves some opinion. The point is to express opinion on the basis of references, quotations and examples of usage, and this question is asking for answer or answers on the grounds of such respectful attention. – Anton Sep 21 '22 at 12:45
  • If one word could always sub for another, why would both exist? – Yosef Baskin Sep 21 '22 at 13:31
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    I am voting to close as (1) a single word request requires a specific sentence. 2. The OP is unclear as to whether a verb or a noun is sought. 3. meanings of "bullshit" in the examples vary. 4. The question will generate guesses and opinions. – Greybeard Sep 21 '22 at 13:32
  • @Greybeard (1) there are 2 example sentences (2) both, I edited the question to make that clearer (3) question is about both meanings of the word – Reverent Lapwing Sep 21 '22 at 13:42
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    In the example "I lost the game due to some random bullshit, missing fifty-fifty chance six times in a row" the profanity is an integral part of the meaning. If you were to use some flowery literary term or euphemism it would not convey the same sense of frustration (unless you hit something at the same time). – Stuart F Sep 21 '22 at 15:10
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    Bullshit is a technical term in philosophy, as this famous paper makes clear. – John Lawler Sep 21 '22 at 17:32
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    If you think bullshit is versatile, wait until you meet the f word! That word can do anything. – jimm101 Sep 21 '22 at 18:03
  • Good effort and details on the question, upvoted. It is uncommon to see this meticulousness from first-time (single-word-requests question) askers. It might still be off-topic as too broad per the closures (but I didn't closevote for the sake of the effort and details; and I will wait for your update). Try to focus on one meaning of bullshit, one word class (noun or verb); and possibly just one clear sentence how you would use the word. I suggest removing the footnote also. – ermanen Sep 21 '22 at 18:43
  • @ermanen I use the word "bullshit" for so many things and always struggle with erasing it from my vocabulary (I don't need to, but it bothers me that sometimes I can't). So for me, the question of removing bullshit - all meanings of it - is a single question. I don't know much about the etiquette on this site, but I'd assume that creating multiple questions asking about the same word but with different meaning would be more frowned upon than asking two, very related questions in one. Would it help, if I remove the "single-word-request" tag? – Reverent Lapwing Sep 21 '22 at 19:28
  • @ermanen regarding the suggestion about the footnote, I'll remove it and allow phrases as an acceptable answer. It does look redundant on the second inspection. – Reverent Lapwing Sep 21 '22 at 19:30
  • @ReverentLapwing, there is nothing wrong with asking about both meanings of the word within the same question, but the meanings are so different that you should not expect the same term to be a substitute for both (if any substitutes can be found at all). In the sense of the first definition you quote, the word is an expletive with very little descriptive content; in the sense of the second one, it does have a definite meaning, discussed at great length in the article cited by Professor Lawler. As pointed out by FumbleFingers, the latter sense is the dominant one. – jsw29 Sep 21 '22 at 20:43
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    @jsw29 obviously, I wasn't asking about a single word replacement, I was looking for a two separate answers, one for each meaning of the word. I assume this confusion comes from a single-word-request tag, so I removed it. I hope that is clear enough now. If you have any other suggestions on how I could make it clear that I expect 2 separate replacements, not a single word covering both meaning, then I would appreciate all assistance. – Reverent Lapwing Sep 21 '22 at 21:41
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    Does this answer your question? Formal alternative to bullsh-t – Mari-Lou A Sep 22 '22 at 10:28

1 Answers1

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Actually you have quite a choice of words. My top picks would be these and they and "bullshit" are all interchangeable (used in the place of another).

Baloney

Bulldust

Flapdoodle

I have linked the words above for Wiktionary definitions and etymologies.

banuyayi
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