shaggy-dog story

[shag-ee-dawg, -dog]

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noun

a funny story, traditionally about a talking dog, that, after an often long and involved narration of unimportant incidents, has an absurd or irrelevant punch line.

Origin of shaggy-dog story

First recorded in 1945–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for shaggy-dog story

pun, humor, antic, farce, one-liner, trick, laugh, parody, gag, stunt, wisecrack, prank, repartee, whimsy, revel, epigram, jest, sport, rib, pleasantry

Idioms and Phrases with shaggy-dog story

shaggy-dog story

A long drawn-out anecdote with an absurd or anticlimactic ending. For example, At first he had us laughing wildly at his shaggy-dog stories, but after the third or fourth we found them tiresome. The term alludes to a well-known series of such stories, which involved a talking dog. [c. 1940]