Telling Stories and More with "Histoire"

In the latest segment of Le Jour où tout a basculé, Frédéric and Anne-Sophie meet Laetitia at a café to deliver some shocking news: their daughters were switched at birth. Upon hearing this, Laetitia is in a state of total disbelief. She says to the couple:

Mais qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire?

But what is this all about?

Caption 38, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...
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Histoire is related to two English words, "history" and "story," and can mean either one depending on context:

Ici, donc une ville riche en culture et riche en histoire...

So here a town rich in culture and rich in history...

Caption 8, Lionel - à Wissembourg
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C'est vraiment une histoire d'amour,

It's really a love story,

c'est parti d'une histoire d'amour.

it started out as a love story.

Caption 4, Annie Chartrand - Sa musique
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But in informal expressions like qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire, the word means something more along the lines of "business" or "matter." It often has this meaning in the construction histoire de + noun:

Ici tout est histoire de récup' [récupération],

Here it's all a matter [or question] of recycling,

de quoi créer un beau Noël.

enough to create a beautiful Christmas.

Caption 58, Alsace 20 - Alsace: les plus belles déco de Noël!
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When histoire de follows an infinitive, it means "in order to," "just to," or "so as to":

Bats le beurre de citron, histoire de bien mélanger le tout.

Whisk the lemon butter, it's a matter of mixing it all well.

Caption 47, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
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Two other, less familiar ways of saying "in order to" are pour + infinitive and afin de + infinitive.

Be careful with the expression raconter des histoires. It can either mean "to tell stories" or "to tell lies":