史学家顾颉刚先生曾在《史林杂识·吹牛·拍马》一文中作过考证:吹牛一词最早是西北方言,源于陕甘宁和内蒙古一带。西北河流湍急,难以行舟,本地人遂就地取材,用若干牛皮或羊皮袋吹成气囊,做成皮筏子,扎好口后连接成筏,作为渡河的工具。 Historian Gu Jiegang once made a research on the article “Shi Lin misunderstood, bragging and flapping horse”: The term bragging was originally from the northwestern dialect and originated from the regions of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The rapid river northwest, it is difficult to carry the boat, local people then draw on the spot, with a number of leather or sheepskin bags blown into airbags, made of rafts, tie well into rafts, as a tool to cross the river.