Language: en
Meaning: Tochatidly.Synonym:shoot the bull1948, Pierre Sichel,Such as We, New York, N.Y.:Reynal & Hitchcock,page339:"Hello, Steve. Don't let me interrupt your business conference." ¶ "You're not. We were justthrowing the bull. The boys are worrying about what will happen to the book business when we get in the war. Paper restrictions and the usual trade dung."1958, Ed McBain [pseudonym;Evan Hunter],Lady Killer, Oxford, Oxfordshire; Melbourne, Vic.: Compass Press,page166:"Sam, I'd love tothrow the bullwith you, but it's getting late. I'd better hit that diner."1985, William N. Yeomans,1000 Things You Never Learned in Business School: How to Manage Your Fast-Track Career, New York, N.Y.:Mentor Books,→ISBN,page298:Estimate the percentage of your time you spent goofing off: reading nonwork material,throwing the bullwith co-workers, taking long lunch hours, flirting, etc.2005, F. P. Lione[pseudonym; Frank Lione, Pam Lione],The Crossroads: A Novel, Grand Rapids, M.I.:Fleming H. Revell,→ISBN,page288:I lit a cigarette when we stopped outside the front doors. Wethrew the bullwith the other cops before heading back.; To make falseboastfulclaims.1923, Roger L. Sergel,Arlie Gelston, New York, N.Y.:B. W. Huebsch, Inc.,page272:"I'm glad you look at it that way. I don't want you to think I'm justthrowing the bull."1940February 25,Sinclair Lewis, “Carry your own Suitcase”, inLos Angeles Times, Los Angeles, L.A.:Times-Mirror Company,→ISSN,→OCLC,page16, column 2:He was urging, "I'm cured. I saw tonight that I can't act at all. I'm just a hick. I want all you guys to forgive me for havingthrown the bullabout my Hollywood place — I got it, all right, but I don't believe it any more. Eva, dear, will you move over and let me sit down beside you?"1959,Norman Mailer,Advertisements for Myself, New York, N.Y.:G. P. Putnam's Sons,page118:"You mean in two weeks you're going to kill yourself?" Hayes blurted. ¶ "Yes, Hayes-san." He threw up his arms. "It's crap, it's all crap, you understand?" ¶ "Yes. Crap-crap," Yuriko said. ¶ "You'rethrowing the bull, Yuriko."1970, Evelyn Piper [pseudonym;Merriam Modell],The Stand-In, New York, N.Y.:David McKay Company, Inc.,page123:You're not throwing pianos, you'rethrowing the bull, but how far will you throw your wife, that's the point. To the wolves?; Totalkorwritein anobscureandpretentiousmanner.1988,Richard Feynman,Ralph Leighton,"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character, New York, N.Y.; London:W. W. Norton & Company,→OCLC,page31:I was about to write a simple theme about this dumb question when I remembered that my literary friends were always "throwing the bull"—building up their sentences to sound complex and sophisticated.1996, Joan MacCracken,The Sun, the Rain, and the Insulin: Growing Up With Diabetes, Orono, M.E.: Tiffin Press of Maine,→ISBN,page161:Once my college roommate told me I'm a tough friend to have because I'm so frank and open. Too true, I guess. I just say it like it is and don't even know how tothrow the bull.2004, George Ehrenhaft, Robert L. Lehrman, Allan Mundsack, Fred Obrecht,Barron's How to Prepare for the ACT Assessment, 13th edition, Hauppauge, N.Y.:Barron's,→ISBN,page424:Like other readers, they enjoy good reading and delight in lively, neatly phrased ideas. They abhor empty platitudes and know in an instant when a writer is "throwing the bull." Pretentiousness turns them off completely.; Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:seethrow,the,bull.
Validation Count: 0
Sourced from Wiktionary