song and dance

noun

1. a story or statement, especially an untrue or misleading one designed to evade the matter at hand.

   Every time he's late, he gives me a song and dance about oversleeping.

song and dance

noun

1. a fuss, esp one that is unnecessary

2. a long or elaborate story or explanation, esp one that is evasive

Word History and Origins

Origin of song and dance¹

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Idioms and Phrases

An elaborate story or effort to explain and justify something, or to deceive and mislead someone. For example, Do you really believe his song and dance about the alarm not going off, being stopped for speeding, and then the car breaking down? or At every annual meeting the chairman goes through the same song and dance about the company's great future plans. This term originally referred to a vaudeville act featuring song and dance. [Late 1800s]