shaggy-dog

shaggy-dog
adjective Date: 1946 of, relating to, or being a long-drawn-out circumstantial story concerning an inconsequential happening that impresses the teller as humorous or interesting but the hearer as boring and pointless; also of, relating to, or being a similar humorous story whose humor lies in the pointlessness or irrelevance of the punch line <
a shaggy-dog comedy
>

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Shaggy dog — or The Shaggy Dog may refer to: Shaggy Dog (play), a 1968 television play by Dennis Potter The Shaggy Dog (1959 film), starring Fred MacMurray and Tommy Kirk The Shaggy Dog (1994 film), a made for TV remake starring Ed Begley, Jr. and Scott… …   Wikipedia

  • shaggy\ dog — n. phr. A special kind of joke whose long and often convoluted introduction and development delay the effect of the punch line. Uncle Joe only seems to bore his audiences with his long shaggy dog jokes, for when he comes to the long awaited punch …   Словарь американских идиом

  • Shaggy Dog Story (TV) — Shaggy Dog Story was a charity programme for Children in Need, put together by the BBC in 1999 as a sequel to the previous year s Future Generations video (featuring chilcren s programmes), and the great success of 1997 s Perfect Day charity… …   Wikipedia

  • shaggy dog (story) — or shaggy dog n. 〚from such an anecdote involving a shaggy dog〛 a long, rambling joke, typically involving ludicrously unreal or irrational behavior and usually having an irrelevant conclusion * * * …   Universalium

  • shaggy dog (story) — or shaggy dog n. [from such an anecdote involving a shaggy dog] a long, rambling joke, typically involving ludicrously unreal or irrational behavior and usually having an irrelevant conclusion …   English World dictionary

  • shaggy dog (story) — or shaggy dog n. [from such an anecdote involving a shaggy dog] a long, rambling joke, typically involving ludicrously unreal or irrational behavior and usually having an irrelevant conclusion …   English World dictionary

  • shaggy dog story — A shaggy dog story is a joke which is a long story with a silly end …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • shaggy-dog story — ► shaggy dog story a long, rambling story or joke, amusing only because it is absurdly inconsequential. Main Entry: ↑shaggy …   English terms dictionary

  • shaggy dog story — shaggy dog .story n old fashioned a long joke that usually ends in a silly or disappointing way …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • shaggy dog story — shaggy dog ,story noun count a very long joke that ends in a silly way …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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