Original cock-and-bull story?

CookingWithGas · December 16, 2002, 1:56pm

Recently there was a thread about what was the original shaggy dog story. Now I’m wondering the same thing about a cock-and-bull story. This term is used to describe an elaborate, possible but implausible story, usually told as an excuse. “He was an hour late and gave me some cock-and-bull story about. . . .”

KidCharlemagne · December 16, 2002, 2:13pm

“The Sun Also Rises” was the first cock-and-bull story.

Rex_Fenestrarum · December 16, 2002, 2:20pm

Michael Jackson - no, not THAT Michael Jackson - wrote in a book (I think it was just called “Beer”, it was a paperback that was shaped like a mug of beer) that The Cock and The Bull were two pubs north of London. Back in “the day”, taverns and pubs were places where people exchanged information and news. Because The Cock and The Bull were across the street from each other, they would complete for traveler’s business with the best “news”. Apparently the one-upsmanship got to be so bad that you couldn’t trust the news from EITHER source. Thus, a “cock and bull” story.

I don’t know if it’s true or not.

CookingWithGas · December 16, 2002, 3:14pm

The Michael Jackson that writes about beer IS “that” Michael Jackson IMHO. That baby-dangler is just some guy with the same name.

Colibri · December 16, 2002, 3:29pm

Actually, considering Jake’s problem, it’s a no-cock and bull story.

Colibri · December 16, 2002, 3:41pm

The Word Detective gives an alternate theory:

Unfortunately, the origins of “cock and bull story,” which first appeared in English around 1620, are a bit fuzzy. Perhaps the most frequently-heard explanation ties the phrase to an old English roadside inn of the period supposedly called The Cock and Bull. Weary travelers, it is said, would often pass the evenings regaling each other with fantastic tales of their exploits and adventures, and so such stories became known as “Cock and Bull tales.” Predictably, however, no such inn can be proven ever to have existed, making this theory, if not a “cock and bull story” itself, at least highly suspect.

A more likely explanation is that “cock and bull story” originally referred to the sort of folk tale or fable, popular at the time, populated by talking animals. A parallel of “cock and bull” can be found in French, where the same sort of whopper is known as a “coq-a-l’ane,” or “cock to donkey” story. (The French “coq-a-l’ane,” incidentally, was imported into Scots, the language of Scotland, as “cockalayne,” meaning a fantastic or satirical story.)

I recall reading that the phrase goes back to a specific beastiary that told some long and involved tales about both cocks and bulls, but I haven’t been able to track it down.