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English
Etymology
Misattributed to W.C. Fields. Original source unknown.
Phrase
if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull
- (slang, somewhat vulgar) When one doesn't have all the facts or have a brilliant explanation, one can often convince people or win an argument by using nonsense.
1958, Pacific Northwest Advisory Board, 100th Regular Meeting, page 10:I said, "What do you do, Bill?" He says "Well, if I can't dazzle them with my brilliance I baffle them with my bull," and doggone if he doesn't.
1984, Roy Meador, Guidelines for preparing proposals, →ISBN:The maxim that "if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull" won't serve. An artful proposal may sometimes win a grant for a less than brilliant project, but a rare exception doesn't make a rule.
2006, Raymond A. Heninger, Without Honor, →ISBN, page 78:This is where the opposing attorney would love to hammer you in a lie in an effort to offset or divert attention to their less than honest descriptions of whatever the issue you are at the time discussing. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull !
2009, John Farndon, Do You Think You're Clever?, →ISBN:If so, there's no better recipe than that of W.C. Fields, who asserted: 'If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull."
2011, Carl Capatina, You Don't Know Me, But My Name is Yea, →ISBN, page 108:As Skip had always heard “If you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with bull” is a pretty effective way out of a tight spot.
2012, Christine Flynn, Finally His Bride, →ISBN:If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull. The phrase her mentor liked to quote had actually been a bit more descriptive than that, but it was the philosophy that was important.