4

A shaggy dog story is a lengthy anecdote that induces an expectation of a surprising, amusing or otherwise memorable conclusion but which ends instead with a punchline that is utterly mundane or even irrelevant to what has just been narrated.

Were there any such stories before they got that name, whenever that might have been?

  • Very interesting question! In some ways a Lit question, but here I think the intent is determining if there are potential folkloric roots. – DukeZhou Mar 28 '18 at 21:57
  • I've only ever encountered them as a type of orally transmitted anecdote. It's always struck me as a strange genre - I don't find them amusing at all. But others' taste may differ :-) –  Mar 28 '18 at 22:04

0 Answers0