a shaggy-dog story a long, rambling story or joke, especially one that is amusing only because it is absurdly inconsequential or pointless.
☞ The expression, dating back to the 1940s, comes from the subject of one such anecdote, a dog with shaggy hair.
1993New York Times Book Review The book has the unhurried pace of the best of the shaggy dog stories; the pleasure is all in the journey rather than the destination.