Phony baloney is old American slang which has taken on a whole new meaning for us in South Africa now.
This is a record we certainly can’t be proud of, but our current listeriosis outbreak has been classified as ‘the worst in world history’.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Butthead’s Beat: Olympic curler banned. What a dope!
Nearly 1 000 people have been infected and 180 have died from what we now know is a processed meat-borne disease, as Minister of Health Aaron Motsoeledi announced on Sunday.
Polony, in particular, was said to be the main culprit and the announcement was enough to prompt one to dump all related products in the dustbin immediately. Alas, only later did it sink in that one could get a bit of money back by returning the packet, even if opened, to the place of purchase.
The disease cannot be spread from one person to another. So, rather puzzling is that small babies have died, leading one to wonder what their parents were thinking by giving them a Vienna to suck on in the first place.
Also, at the risk of being flippant in a bad situation, one has to question a few newspaper headlines like: “Tiger pulls out its polony.”
Polony originates from the Italian sausage ‘bologna’, which is actually quite upmarket in European countries.
The likes of America and South Africa (obviously) cheapened the product by using mainly fat, salt, gristle and a composite meat paste officially called ‘pink slime’ (urgrrh), according to The Butcher.
Here it’s called ‘polony’ and in America ‘rag baloney’, produced mainly for the poor, sadly.
‘Rag baloney’ originated in America in the 1930s. Hence, the slang phrase ‘phony baloney’, possibly inspired by author Damon Runyon’s book ‘Guys and Dolls’ which referred to ‘phonus balonus’.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of the phrase is: “Nonsense, humbug, something fraudulent or fake.”
The South African dictionary just says: “Bullshit!”
(PS: Talking about ‘phony baloney’, there is no evidence… yet… that the Gupta clan is involved here in any way.)
Tragic as this all may be, it is only human nature to turn to mirth to cope. Laughter is the best medicine, they say.
So social media has gone wild.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Butthead’s Beat: Confessions of a ‘not-so-randy’ runner
There’s even a photograph of a sausage with a condom stretched over it: “Russian is now safe to eat.”
Columnist Ranjeni Munusamy’s tweet is a gem: “South Africa is too much. A foreign family took control of the state, a city surrounded by water has no water, the third largest political party is determining the national agenda… and polony is killing us.”
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
