What is the British meaning of the word, “bloody?”
What does bloody mean in the British language? I hear it used all the time but I do not know the meaning of the word, "bloody."
meaning
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What does bloody mean in the British language? I hear it used all the time but I do not know the meaning of the word, "bloody."
meaning
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It's just a general-purpose obscenity.
– Hot Licks
2 hours ago
add a comment |
What does bloody mean in the British language? I hear it used all the time but I do not know the meaning of the word, "bloody."
meaning
New contributor
Rodney G McNeely Jr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
What does bloody mean in the British language? I hear it used all the time but I do not know the meaning of the word, "bloody."
meaning
meaning
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Rodney G McNeely Jr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited 1 hour ago
mRotten
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asked 2 hours ago
Rodney G McNeely JrRodney G McNeely Jr
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Check out our Code of Conduct.
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Check out our Code of Conduct.
It's just a general-purpose obscenity.
– Hot Licks
2 hours ago
add a comment |
It's just a general-purpose obscenity.
– Hot Licks
2 hours ago
It's just a general-purpose obscenity.
– Hot Licks
2 hours ago
It's just a general-purpose obscenity.
– Hot Licks
2 hours ago
add a comment |
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A rather lengthy etymology of bloody: Etymonline.com
bloody (adj.)
It has been a British intensive swear word at least since 1676.
Weekley relates it to the purely intensive use of the cognate Dutch
bloed, German Blut. But perhaps it ultimately is connected with bloods
in the slang sense of "rowdy young aristocrats" (see blood (n.)) via
expressions such as bloody drunk "as drunk as a blood."
Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c. 1750, and it was
used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c. 1750-c. 1920,
perhaps from imagined association with menstruation; Johnson calls it
"very vulgar," and OED writes of it, "now constantly in the mouths of
the lowest classes, but by respectable people considered 'a horrid
word', on par with obscene or profane language."
The onset of the taboo against bloody coincides with the increase in linguistic prudery that presaged the Victorian Era but it is hard
to say what the precise cause was in the case of this specific word.
Attempts have been made to explain the term's extraordinary shock
power by invoking etymology. Theories that derive it from such oaths
as "By our Lady" or "God's blood" seem farfetched, however. More
likely, the taboo stemmed from the fear that many people have of blood
and, in the minds of some, from an association with menstrual
bleeding. Whatever, the term was debarred from polite society during
the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson]
Shaw shocked theatergoers when he put it in the mouth of Eliza
Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1914), and for a time the word was known
euphemistically as "the Shavian adjective." It was avoided in print as
late as 1936. Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, was when 13 civilians were
killed by British troops at protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Following the original use in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the sense spread to most other parts of the English-speaking world, with the notable exception of the United States, where it has apparently only ever achieved limited currency, e.g. among sailors during the 19th cent.
The figurative meaning of bloody from the OED:
an intensifier: absolute, downright, utter. Formerly sometimes in a
negative sense: awful, terrible. More recently also as a mere filler,
with little or no intensifying force (although generally implying some
element of dislike, frustration, etc., on the part of the speaker).
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A rather lengthy etymology of bloody: Etymonline.com
bloody (adj.)
It has been a British intensive swear word at least since 1676.
Weekley relates it to the purely intensive use of the cognate Dutch
bloed, German Blut. But perhaps it ultimately is connected with bloods
in the slang sense of "rowdy young aristocrats" (see blood (n.)) via
expressions such as bloody drunk "as drunk as a blood."
Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c. 1750, and it was
used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c. 1750-c. 1920,
perhaps from imagined association with menstruation; Johnson calls it
"very vulgar," and OED writes of it, "now constantly in the mouths of
the lowest classes, but by respectable people considered 'a horrid
word', on par with obscene or profane language."
The onset of the taboo against bloody coincides with the increase in linguistic prudery that presaged the Victorian Era but it is hard
to say what the precise cause was in the case of this specific word.
Attempts have been made to explain the term's extraordinary shock
power by invoking etymology. Theories that derive it from such oaths
as "By our Lady" or "God's blood" seem farfetched, however. More
likely, the taboo stemmed from the fear that many people have of blood
and, in the minds of some, from an association with menstrual
bleeding. Whatever, the term was debarred from polite society during
the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson]
Shaw shocked theatergoers when he put it in the mouth of Eliza
Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1914), and for a time the word was known
euphemistically as "the Shavian adjective." It was avoided in print as
late as 1936. Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, was when 13 civilians were
killed by British troops at protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Following the original use in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the sense spread to most other parts of the English-speaking world, with the notable exception of the United States, where it has apparently only ever achieved limited currency, e.g. among sailors during the 19th cent.
The figurative meaning of bloody from the OED:
an intensifier: absolute, downright, utter. Formerly sometimes in a
negative sense: awful, terrible. More recently also as a mere filler,
with little or no intensifying force (although generally implying some
element of dislike, frustration, etc., on the part of the speaker).
add a comment |
A rather lengthy etymology of bloody: Etymonline.com
bloody (adj.)
It has been a British intensive swear word at least since 1676.
Weekley relates it to the purely intensive use of the cognate Dutch
bloed, German Blut. But perhaps it ultimately is connected with bloods
in the slang sense of "rowdy young aristocrats" (see blood (n.)) via
expressions such as bloody drunk "as drunk as a blood."
Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c. 1750, and it was
used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c. 1750-c. 1920,
perhaps from imagined association with menstruation; Johnson calls it
"very vulgar," and OED writes of it, "now constantly in the mouths of
the lowest classes, but by respectable people considered 'a horrid
word', on par with obscene or profane language."
The onset of the taboo against bloody coincides with the increase in linguistic prudery that presaged the Victorian Era but it is hard
to say what the precise cause was in the case of this specific word.
Attempts have been made to explain the term's extraordinary shock
power by invoking etymology. Theories that derive it from such oaths
as "By our Lady" or "God's blood" seem farfetched, however. More
likely, the taboo stemmed from the fear that many people have of blood
and, in the minds of some, from an association with menstrual
bleeding. Whatever, the term was debarred from polite society during
the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson]
Shaw shocked theatergoers when he put it in the mouth of Eliza
Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1914), and for a time the word was known
euphemistically as "the Shavian adjective." It was avoided in print as
late as 1936. Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, was when 13 civilians were
killed by British troops at protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Following the original use in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the sense spread to most other parts of the English-speaking world, with the notable exception of the United States, where it has apparently only ever achieved limited currency, e.g. among sailors during the 19th cent.
The figurative meaning of bloody from the OED:
an intensifier: absolute, downright, utter. Formerly sometimes in a
negative sense: awful, terrible. More recently also as a mere filler,
with little or no intensifying force (although generally implying some
element of dislike, frustration, etc., on the part of the speaker).
add a comment |
A rather lengthy etymology of bloody: Etymonline.com
bloody (adj.)
It has been a British intensive swear word at least since 1676.
Weekley relates it to the purely intensive use of the cognate Dutch
bloed, German Blut. But perhaps it ultimately is connected with bloods
in the slang sense of "rowdy young aristocrats" (see blood (n.)) via
expressions such as bloody drunk "as drunk as a blood."
Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c. 1750, and it was
used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c. 1750-c. 1920,
perhaps from imagined association with menstruation; Johnson calls it
"very vulgar," and OED writes of it, "now constantly in the mouths of
the lowest classes, but by respectable people considered 'a horrid
word', on par with obscene or profane language."
The onset of the taboo against bloody coincides with the increase in linguistic prudery that presaged the Victorian Era but it is hard
to say what the precise cause was in the case of this specific word.
Attempts have been made to explain the term's extraordinary shock
power by invoking etymology. Theories that derive it from such oaths
as "By our Lady" or "God's blood" seem farfetched, however. More
likely, the taboo stemmed from the fear that many people have of blood
and, in the minds of some, from an association with menstrual
bleeding. Whatever, the term was debarred from polite society during
the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson]
Shaw shocked theatergoers when he put it in the mouth of Eliza
Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1914), and for a time the word was known
euphemistically as "the Shavian adjective." It was avoided in print as
late as 1936. Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, was when 13 civilians were
killed by British troops at protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Following the original use in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the sense spread to most other parts of the English-speaking world, with the notable exception of the United States, where it has apparently only ever achieved limited currency, e.g. among sailors during the 19th cent.
The figurative meaning of bloody from the OED:
an intensifier: absolute, downright, utter. Formerly sometimes in a
negative sense: awful, terrible. More recently also as a mere filler,
with little or no intensifying force (although generally implying some
element of dislike, frustration, etc., on the part of the speaker).
A rather lengthy etymology of bloody: Etymonline.com
bloody (adj.)
It has been a British intensive swear word at least since 1676.
Weekley relates it to the purely intensive use of the cognate Dutch
bloed, German Blut. But perhaps it ultimately is connected with bloods
in the slang sense of "rowdy young aristocrats" (see blood (n.)) via
expressions such as bloody drunk "as drunk as a blood."
Partridge reports that it was "respectable" before c. 1750, and it was
used by Fielding and Swift, but heavily tabooed c. 1750-c. 1920,
perhaps from imagined association with menstruation; Johnson calls it
"very vulgar," and OED writes of it, "now constantly in the mouths of
the lowest classes, but by respectable people considered 'a horrid
word', on par with obscene or profane language."
The onset of the taboo against bloody coincides with the increase in linguistic prudery that presaged the Victorian Era but it is hard
to say what the precise cause was in the case of this specific word.
Attempts have been made to explain the term's extraordinary shock
power by invoking etymology. Theories that derive it from such oaths
as "By our Lady" or "God's blood" seem farfetched, however. More
likely, the taboo stemmed from the fear that many people have of blood
and, in the minds of some, from an association with menstrual
bleeding. Whatever, the term was debarred from polite society during
the whole of the nineteenth century. [Rawson]
Shaw shocked theatergoers when he put it in the mouth of Eliza
Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1914), and for a time the word was known
euphemistically as "the Shavian adjective." It was avoided in print as
late as 1936. Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, was when 13 civilians were
killed by British troops at protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Following the original use in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the sense spread to most other parts of the English-speaking world, with the notable exception of the United States, where it has apparently only ever achieved limited currency, e.g. among sailors during the 19th cent.
The figurative meaning of bloody from the OED:
an intensifier: absolute, downright, utter. Formerly sometimes in a
negative sense: awful, terrible. More recently also as a mere filler,
with little or no intensifying force (although generally implying some
element of dislike, frustration, etc., on the part of the speaker).
answered 2 hours ago
lbflbf
21.2k22574
21.2k22574
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– Hot Licks
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