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#187619 - 11/03/09 08:39 AM Word for a long-winded, pointless story
ianpc Offline
stranger

Registered: 11/03/09
Posts: 1
Hi, does anyone know a good word for:

A long, boring story without a point, usually listened to politely by a pained audience that tries to hurry it up.

Thanks!

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#187622 - 11/03/09 12:05 PM Re: Word for a long-winded, pointless story [Re: ianpc]
AnnaStrophic Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 6481
Loc: lower upstate New York
"shaggy dog"?

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#187623 - 11/03/09 12:51 PM Re: Word for a long-winded, pointless story [Re: AnnaStrophic]
tsuwm Online   content
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 9400
Loc: this too shall pass
shaggy-dog story is also applied to long-winded jokes (which are sure to be pointless, and may involve convoluted puns); Eric Partridge offered this (shortened) version of the original shaggy-dog story:

A grand householder in Park Lane, London, had the great misfortune to lose a very valuable and rather shaggy dog. He advertised repeatedly in The Times, but without luck, and finally he gave up hope. But an American in New York saw the advertisement, was touched by the man’s devotion, and took great trouble to seek out a dog that matched the specification in the advertisement and which he could bring over to London on his next business trip. He presented himself in due course at the owner’s impressive house, where he was received in the householder’s absence by an even more impressive butler, who glanced at the dog, bowed, winced almost imperceptibly and exclaimed, in a horror-stricken voice, “But not so shaggy as that, sir!”

-joe (shaggy) friday

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#187626 - 11/03/09 03:57 PM Re: Word for a long-winded, pointless story [Re: ianpc]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3387
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Art today.

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#187628 - 11/03/09 08:50 PM Re: Word for a long-winded, pointless story [Re: BranShea]
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 12381
Another vote for "shaggy dog story".

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#187653 - 11/04/09 02:05 PM Re: Word for a long-winded, pointless story [Re: Faldage]
dalehileman Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 07/10/05
Posts: 1719
Loc: Apple Valley, CA, USA
If the works of one who writes is writings are the ramblings of a blellum called blellings

http://onelook.com/?w=*&loc=revfp2&clue=story+boring+pointless
_________________________
dalehileman

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