shaggy-dog story
[ shag-ee-dawg, -dog ]
/ ˈʃæg iˈdɔg, -ˈdɒg /
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.
QUIZZES
PRACTICE SOME ESCAPISM WITH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
We salute you if you remember all the doovers from Word of the Day between May 25 and May 31!
Question 1 of 7
salute
Origin of shaggy-dog story
First recorded in 1945–50
Words nearby shaggy-dog story
shaggable, shagged, shaggy, shaggy cap, shaggy dog story, shaggy-dog story, shaggy-mane, shagreen, shagreen skin, shagroon, shagtastic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.