shaggy dog story

== English == === Alternative forms === shaggy-dog story === Etymology === Uncertain; probably from one of two jokes, one in which a protracted search for an alleged remarkably shaggy, talking dog ends in the discovery of the dog which, though it can indeed talk, is disappointingly not so shaggy after all; or one in which an even more protracted search for the shaggiest dog in the world ends in the utterly anticlimactic punchline “Now that’s a shaggy dog!”. === Pronunciation === Hyphenation: shag‧gy dog sto‧ry === Noun === shaggy dog story (plural shaggy dog stories) An intentionally long-winded joke or tale featuring the narration of typically irrelevant details, and usually ending with an absurd or pointless punchline which is often a pun or Spoonerism on a known catchphrase, with the intended humor deriving from the combination of the excessive length and the anticlimax. Synonyms: shaggy-dog tale, shaggy dog tale ==== Derived terms ==== === See also === Banbury story of a cock and a bull cock-and-bull story fish story tall tale whopper === Further reading === shaggy dog story on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === shaggy God story