The French expression “une histoire à dormir debout” translates literally to “a story to sleep standing”. A loose translation is “a story about sleeping standing up”. Unbelievable, right? Here are some English meanings:
- cock-and-bull story
- tall story
The French expressions site, expressio.fr suggests “à dormir debout” means unbelievable, implausible, absurd or illogical.
- Il m’a raconté comment il s’est battu dans chaque guerre depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale: ce sont des histoires à dormir debout! He hold me how he’d fought in each war since World War II. Cock-and-bull stories!
There’s another great synonymous expression for “une histoire a dormir debout:
- une histoire sans queue ni tête – A story with neither tail nor head
