Everyone's been there before, standing with a group of friends just talking about whatever's going on. No one really directs the conversation, but rather it flows freely. Of course there are always a couple of people in that friend group who have lavish stories, but somehow you seem to doubt it. Those people are the professional assholes. But they're not the only ones doing it. You do it yourself, probably not on the professional scale. This article is about the topic of bullshit or malarkey and what conversation means. Bullshit is a form of communication and seems preferable to being direct. This essay seeks to explore the purposes of bullshit as an accepted form of communication by breaking down the word "bullshit" and its social uses. Starting with what is bullshit is crucial to the rest of the article. Frankfurt begins with the Oxford English Dictionary for his analysis of the first word “bull.” Frankfurt states the Oxford English Dictionary definition as “an informal conversation or discussion, esp. of a group of males” (Frankfurt 2005:34). Bull sessions are also often used to express feelings about sensitive topics such as "religion, politics or sex" (Frankfurt 2005: 36). They do this with the mindset that in these conversations the general rule is not to take anything seriously, and it is my belief that they are used for pleasure or to vent. Frankfurt (2005) states: Each of the contributors to a bullish session is based, in other words, on the general recognition that what he expresses or says is not to be understood as what he wholeheartedly means or unequivocally believes to be true. The purpose of conversation is not to communicate beliefs. Agreements......middle of paper......plowed things, but closely related: bull is a conversation session that has no meaning and that whatever is said is not to be taken seriously and shit is essentially not it is nothing more than artfully crafted unenriched words that have no relevance to the conversation. Combining the two creates a concept of conversation that has no allegiance to fact or fiction, but instead creates a mode of self-promotion. Social competition is fierce, and using bullshit to get ahead is common on the playground, because kids use it as social copycat currency. Old people use bullshit to kill time, company and entertainment. Politicians focus on attracting votes from the masses over unselected groups. BS is a strategy for social gain and can be used for multiple purposes. Works Cited Frankfurt, HG (2005). On bullshit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.