thereby hangs a tale

English

Etymology

Coined by William Shakespeare in 1623 in "As you Like it," act 2, scene 7:

And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,

And then from hour to hour we rot and rot,

And thereby hangs a tale.

Phrase

thereby hangs a tale

1. Used to indicate that something requires a long story or explanation to fully understand.

Further reading

• “thereby hangs a tale”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “thereby hangs a tale”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “thereby hangs a tale”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “thereby hangs a tale”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “thereby hangs a tale” (US) / “thereby hangs a tale” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.