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shaggy­dog story
sha-gee DAWG stor-ee
noun
a long story that’s humorous to the speaker but strikes the listener as boring and stupid
1968Larry NivenA Gift From Earth'The luck of Matt Keller.' A joke, a shaggy-dog story. If he hadn't used the power to 'rescue' Polly, she might be alive now. If he hadn't come running to Jay Hood for explanations, he'd be back tending his mining worms. No wonder this form of 'luck' had never appeared before. Perhaps it never would again.1981Spider RobinsonTime Travellers Strictly CashIt was Tall Tales Night at Callahan's, the night on which the teller of the most outrageous shaggy-dog story gets his night's tab refunded.1987Kurt VonnegutBluebeardI myself haven't been in there since. And, yes, there is something in there. This is no shaggy dog story. After I die and am buried next to my darling Edith, and the executors of my estate open those doors at last, they will find more than just thin air in there. And it won't be some pathetic symbol, such as a paintbrush broken in two or my Purple Heart on an otherwise vacant and clean-swept floor.

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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