A shaggy dough... a rough and ready dough ball that likes to go its own way, takes no guff from anyone and rides a 1970's Triumph Daytona motorcycle and collects Led Zeppelin records.
Ha ha, that's how imagine the old shaggy dough brought to life. In reality,it's just a stringy mess of doughy strands until you let it rise for 10 - 12 hours when it bubbles up into a monstrous mess of yeasty goodness.
Lol, that's what I like about it, I instantly recognise the very way it looks just from reading it!