Back in our college days a “bull session” was a gathering of young men, always men and always young, congregated informally in some dormitory room over late coffee or beer or other refreshments, with conversation ranging over any topic or topics that might be argued or discussed.
The topics might be religion, giving rise to a diversity of views or half-formed ideas, or sex, or music, art, literature, or anything discussable, but none of the participants in such a session certainly ever considered these sessions, sometimes, though rarely, including a college prof or instructor, to consist of “foolish talk, stuff, claptrap,” in the words of a recent dictionary.
The discussants took them seriously, no matter what others may have thought, though, of course, frivolity did enter now and then.
But along about that time “bull” degenerated into another sense, euphemistically often called “bushwa,” what one might describe as the end product of the domestic bull, used chiefly as fertilizer; its slang sense was idle talk, stuff, nonsense, claptrap.
The “bull session” of earlier days then descended into any confabulation, male or female, devoted to such chatter, and “to shoot the bull” did then become hyperbole for “to talk nonsense” or, sometimes, “to brag,” or “to cheat or defraud.”
Related Posts
-
Where does the expression “to shoot the bull” come from and What does it mean?
The American slang expression "to shoot the bull", which originated in the gutter or, rather, the barnyard, now means to talk pretentiously, to talk wisely and freely upon subjects about which one knows…
-
Where does the phrase “John Bull” come from and What does John Bull mean?
The long-drawn-out War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714, in which the allied armies of England, Austria, the Netherlands, and Prussia were finally victorious over the combined forces of France and Spain, was not…
-
Who Won the Contest Between the Brown Bull of Ulster and the White Horned Bull In Irish Mythology?
With Cuchulainn dead, Maeve's army seized the Brown Bull and sent it back to Connacht. When the White Horned Bull saw the Brown Bull entering his territory, he charged. The two bulls slammed…
-
What Does a “Dry Run” Mean and Where Did the Term For a Practice Session Originate?
A "dry run" is firefighter jargon. It was once common for firefighters, especially volunteers, to hold public exhibitions of their skills and to compete with other companies at fairs and carnivals. This dry…
-
Why Do Jazz Musicians Call a Spontaneous Session a “Jam” and How Did the Word Originate?
All musicians refer to an informal and exhilarating musical session as "jamming," but the term first surfaced in the jazz world during the 1920s. "Jam" in jazz is a short, free, improvised passage…
-
Where Did the Expression “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?
"Don't kill the messenger" was first expressed as long ago as 442 BC by Sophocles. "Kill" became "shoot" in the American West during the nineteenth century. The expression arose during a time when…
