Cock-and-bull story

A cock-and-bull story is a far-fetched and unbelievable story, which the townsfolk of Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire will have one believe derives from the days of coaches and horses when their two taverns, one called The Cock and the other called The Bull were places that travellers could rest up for the night. The two inns were in competition with one another and the banter between patrons led to exaggerated Cock and Bull stories. Do not believe a word of it. This is just another cock and bull story. Bull meaning talk designed to deceive dates from the 1500s and this sense is retained in the expression cock and bull story that first appears in English in the early 17th century as a story of a cock and bull, which meant simply a long, rambling, idle story. By the 18th century, the meaning had shifted slightly to a concocted, incredible story. Another suggestion is that the expression derived from farming and the way that farmers liked to talk up the quality of their livestock to the point of exaggeration and deceit. See also Bull and Bullshit.