Irish bull
Ludicrous, incongruent or logically absurd statement, generally unrecognized as such by its author / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Irish bull is a ludicrous, incongruent or logically absurd statement, generally unrecognized as such by its author. The inclusion of the epithet Irish is a late addition.[1]
John Pentland Mahaffy, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, observed, "an Irish bull is always pregnant", i.e. with truthful meaning.[2] The "father" of the Irish bull is often said to be Sir Boyle Roche,[3] who once asked "Why should we put ourselves out of our way to do anything for posterity, for what has posterity ever done for us?".[4] Roche may have been Sheridan's model for Mrs Malaprop.[5]