When you use the expression ‘Cock and Bull Story’ you mean that someone is telling a tale that’s so fanciful that it’s unbelievable.
Example of use: “Mindy was late again. When I asked why, she gave me some cock and bull story about her toaster exploding.”
Interesting fact about Cock and Bull Story
The origin of the expression ‘cock and bull story’ comes from the 17th
century French term ‘coq-a-l’ane’, meaning from “rooster to jackass,” or an incoherent story passed from one subject to another. The first citation is seen in Robert Burton’s 1621 work The Anatomy of Melancholy: “Some mens whole delight is to talk of a cocka and bull over a pot.”
