throw the bull

throw the bull (third-person singular simple present throws the bull, present participle throwing the bull, simple past threw the bull, past participle thrown the bull) (intransitive, idiomatic, somewhat dated)

1. To chat idly.

   Synonym: shoot the bull

   • 1948, Pierre Sichel, Such as We, New York, N.Y.: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 339:

     "Hello, Steve. Don't let me interrupt your business conference." ¶ "You're not. We were just throwing 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, page 166:

     "Sam, I'd love to throw the bull with 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, page 298:

     Estimate the percentage of your time you spent goofing off: reading nonwork material, throwing the bull with co-workers, taking long lunch hours, flirting, etc.

   • 2005, F. P. Lione , The Crossroads: A Novel, Grand Rapids, M.I.: Fleming H. Revell, →ISBN, page 288:

     I lit a cigarette when we stopped outside the front doors. We threw the bull with the other cops before heading back.

2. To make false boastful claims.
   • 1923, Roger L. Sergel, Arlie Gelston, New York, N.Y.: B. W. Huebsch, Inc., page 272:

     "I'm glad you look at it that way. I don't want you to think I'm just throwing the bull."

   • 1940 February 25, Sinclair Lewis, “Carry your own Suitcase”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, L.A.: Times-Mirror Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16, 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 having thrown the bull about 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, page 118:

     "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're throwing the bull, Yuriko."

   • 1970, Evelyn Piper [pseudonym; Merriam Modell], The Stand-In, New York, N.Y.: David McKay Company, Inc., page 123:

     You're not throwing pianos, you're throwing the bull, but how far will you throw your wife, that's the point. To the wolves?

3. To talk or write in an obscure and pretentious manner.
   • 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, page 31:

     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, page 161:

     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 to throw 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, page 424:

     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.

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see throw,‎ the,‎ bull.

• “throw the bull v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present