cock-and-bull story
- noun
- /ˈkɑk ənd bʌl ˈstɔri/
- Informal
- I don't believe this cock-and-bull story that Venango surrendered.
- tell a cock-and-bull story
Examples
-
He always comes up with some absurd cock-and-bull story to avoid taking responsibility.
-
I told them a cock-and-bull story.
-
I've already explained I made up a cock-and-bull story.
-
You don't believe that cock-and-bull story about going on a trip, do you?
-
But, of course, he noticed my twitch and interrupted whatever cock-and-bull story I was telling him.
Fiction book (1996) -
Once I walked in and found him there, and he gave me some cock-and-bull story about a leak in the wall. "Was anything ever missing?" Darcy had asked.
Fiction book (1991) -
That’s the greatest cock-and-bull story I ever heard.
-
He gave her the name and the date of admission, and when she asked what this was about, a cock-and-bull story about a recently deceased distant relative who'd mentioned the student in his will.
Fiction book (1996) -
Went to Yerba Buena, went to Monterey, visited with all the officials and gave them some cock-and-bull story about how his trip was in the interests of science and commerce.
Fiction book (1991) -
When asked about his absence, he devised a ridiculous cock-and-bull story that no one believed.
Synonyms
40
3.4
A made-up story told to hide the truth or deceive people
27
4.6
A made-up story used to avoid blame or trick people
23
4.0
A story that says things are bigger or more amazing than they really are to be funny
8
9.7
Something not true that people say to fool others
4
7.2
A complicated story used as an excuse to avoid blame
4
6.3
An invented story or plan made to trick people
3
7.2
A false story people tell to hide the real reason
1
5.5
A made up story told to hide the truth
1
9.9
Talk that is false or silly
1
7.3
A made-up tale that is hard to believe
A false or silly story people tell to avoid blame
A silly story that is clearly false and hard to believe
A made-up story told in a big, exciting way to amuse people
Antonyms
How Plausible
31
6.5
- Informal
- Literature
23
4.0
- UK
1
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
cock-and-bull + story
The phrase's constituents ('cock', 'bull', 'story') taken literally suggest a tale about animals, not the sense of an implausible or invented excuse. The idiomatic meaning 'an absurd or unbelievable story' is unpredictable from the parts and culturally specific, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Cock-and-bull story: One popular story says the phrase comes from old inns called The Cock and The Bull, where travellers would sit and tell wild, made-up tales to amuse each other. That's why cock-and-bull story now means 'an unbelievable story' or 'an excuse'.