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Origin of Phrases - C
Cock & Bull Story
Meaning: A fabricated or highly exaggerated story intended to deceive.
Example: I don't want to hear another cock and bull story about why you are late, just be here on time from now on.
Origin: This is a corruption of a "concocted and bully story". Bully is the Danish bullen, or exaggerated. Therefore, it stands to reason that a cock and bull story is a made up, exaggerated story.
The origin is tied to ancient fables wherein animals talked. The earliest known citation is from John Day's 1608 play, Law-trickes or Who Would Have Thought It. In it is the line: "What a tale of a cock and a bull he told my father."
