Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Cock and Bull Story A corruption of a concocted and bully story. The catch-pennies hawked about the streets are still called cocks- i.e. concocted things. Bully is the Danish bullen (exaggerated), our bull-rush (an exaggerated rush), bull-frog, etc. Another etymology may be suggested. The idol Nergal was the most common idol of the ancient Phoenicians, Indians, and Persians, and Nergal means a dunghill cock. The Egyptian bull is equally notorious under the name of Osiris. A cock-and-bull story may therefore mean a myth, in reference to the mythological fables of Nergal and Osiris. The French equivalents are faire un coq l'âne and un conie de ma mère Voie (a mother goose tale). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Untruth | Invention, fabrication, fiction; fable, nursery tale; romance; (imagination); absurd story, untrue story, false story, trumped up story, trumped up statement; thing devised by the enemy; canard; shave, sell, hum, traveler;s tale, Canterbury tale, fairy tale, fake; claptrap. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: COCK AND BULL STORY |
| Specialty definitions using "COCK AND BULL STORY": Blue Wonder. (references) |
| Language | Translations for "COCK AND BULL STORY"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | histori e sajuar. (various references) | |
Czech | smyšlenka (fable, figment, hoax, invention), prášilovská historka, báchorka (story, tall story). (various references) | |
German | lügenmärchen (tall story), Lügengeschichte (pack of lies). (various references) | |
Hebrew | צ'זבת (tall story, yarn). (various references) | |
Hungarian | hihetetlen történet (cock-and-bull story), hihetetlen magyarázat, dajkamese (cock-and-bull story, nurse, nursery tale). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ockcay anday ullbay orystay.(various references) | |
Romanian | câte-n lunã şi în soare, scornealã (invention, tale), gogoaşã (cocoon, dough-boy, doughnut, fibs, follicle), basmul cu cocoşul roşu. (various references) | |
Russian | неправдоподобная история (cock-and-bull story, fishy tale). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | lovačka priča. (various references) | |
Spanish | patraña (humbug, old wives' tale, tale). (various references) | |
Swedish | rövarhistoria. (various references) | |
Thai | เรื่องไร้สาระ (banana oil, bologan, hoo-ha, kak, rot). (various references) | |
Turkish | palavra (applesauce, baloney, boasting, boloney, bounce, braggadocio, bragging, bunk, bunkum, claptrap, eyewash, fish story, flubdub, flummery, gaff, hot air, jazz, lie, palaver, talkee-talkee, tall story), martaval (bounce, bouncer, hooey, hot air, romance, story), kurtmasalı (false excuses, old wives' tale). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Myliobatis bovina, Pteromylaeus bovinus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-c-c-d-k-l-l-n-o-o-r-s-t-u-y" | |
-5 letters: backcountry. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Crosswords 2. Translations: Modern 3. Translations: Ancient 4. Anagrams | 5. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
