cock-and-bull story

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A far-fetched and fanciful story or tale of highly dubious validity.

Pronunciation

en-au-cock-and-bull story.ogg

Word forms

cock-and-bull story cock-and-bull stories

Etymology

Unknown. The phrase is noted as similar in meaning and form to French coq-à-l'âne (“satire, incoherent story”, literally “cock to the ass”) which was borrowed into Scots as cockalane. theories of origin Theories of the term's ultimate origin include allusions to stories which feature talking animals and that the term refers to gossip typical of what were historically two coaching inns, The Cock and The Bull, in Stony Stratford, England.

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