Cock and bull story

    无稽之谈

    这个短语的字面解释是“公鸡和公牛的故事”，这是什么意思？请看对话：

    A: Did Mary pay back the 1,000 bucks she borrowed from you?

    B: No, she didn't. Instead she told me a cock and bull story about having been robbed.

    Note: This idiom refers to a fabricated story meant to deceive and/or amuse. There's a French variation, coq-a-l'ane (cock to donkey), and a Scottish derivative of the French variation--"cockalayne." The Phrase Finder suggests the phrase came about when coaches would carry travelers to one of two inns (named the Cock and the Bull) that were close to each other on the old London Road at Stony Stratford near Buckinghamshire, England. Rivalries arose between the groups of travelers who favored one inn over the other, and boastful tales were exchanged. The more likely explanation is that the expression refers to old fables featuring talking animals, a notion that the French "cock to donkey" tends to corroborate.