Bloody in British English usage
Bun Mui
What does the word "bloody" mean in British English usage?
Some how it doesn't mean a lot of haemoglobin or red blood cells dying
things?
Is it slang for very?
Such as it is bloody good, which means very good?
Comments?
Bun Mui
Skitt
"Bun Mui" <BunM...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:pd9V6.11583$gg2.1...@news1.mts.net...
Sounds like vampire-talk to me.
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://i.am/skitt/
I speak English well -- I learn it from a book!
-- Manuel of "Fawlty Towers" (he's from Barcelona).
Mike Oliver
> "Bun Mui" <BunM...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:pd9V6.11583$gg2.1...@news1.mts.net...
> >
> > Comments?
>
> Sounds like vampire-talk to me.
Is this from your personal knowledge, Skitt? Are you
breathing a little easier now that Buffy's gone?
Larry G
I've wondered this myself. It isn't used in American English, but I've seen
quite liberal usage in British. My grandma's next-door neighbors, who were
French Canadian, often used the word, so I would assume the word was used in
Canadian English as well.
Larry
John H
wrote:
In that usage, it's roughly the same as "very", and is considered
mildly obscene for some reason.
It's also used in the context "there's that bloody cat", in which the
word is meaningless except to indicate the speaker's hatred of the
cat.
It also retains its original meaning: a "bloody war" is a war in which
a lot of blood is shed; a "bloody knife" is a knife with blood on it.
This may be used freely.
Of course, there's room for ambiguity. "That bloody cat has taken my
bloody knife to fight a bloody war" comes across as having very little
to do with red blood cells, and a lot to do with the speaker's limited
vocabulary. That, and a very able cat.
--
John H
www.jfhopkin.com
Robert Lieblich
Bun, Bun. Turn off the recycle machine. You posted this on
2/26/2000:
> What does "Bloody Hell" mean in British English usage?
>
> Is it considered swaear word in the U.K.?
and this on New Year's Eve, 12/31/98:
>
> Only if "Hell" is added to the end of "Bloody" is it bad in the U.K..
>
> Comments?
>
> The word "Bloody" itself is not bad.
>
> Unless of course you are the recipient.
What next, Teletubbies?
Brian J Goggin
wrote:
>What next, Teletubbies?
The *Magic Roundabout* movie.
"Time for bed" said Zebedee.
bjg
Charles Riggs
wrote:
Gone? What do you mean gone? (I suppose we only get reruns over here
but the show is on every week and I'm an ardent fan.)
Charles Riggs
Matthew M. Huntbach
> On Mon, 11 Jun 2001 19:45:25 GMT, Bun Mui <BunM...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >What does the word "bloody" mean in British English usage?
> >Some how it doesn't mean a lot of haemoglobin or red blood cells dying
> >things?
> >Is it slang for very?
> >Such as it is bloody good, which means very good?
> In that usage, it's roughly the same as "very", and is considered
> mildly obscene for some reason.
> It's also used in the context "there's that bloody cat", in which the
> word is meaningless except to indicate the speaker's hatred of the
> cat.
It's roughly equivalent to "fucking" which can be used as an emphasiser,
meaning "very" when attached to an adjective. Until recently it was
regarded as obscene to the extent to which "fucking" as an emphasiser
is now. However, as John says, it is now regarded as only mildly
obscene.
Its loss of obscenity seems to have resulted in it drifting into an
archaism. It's not a word I ever hear young people using. Using it
now would definitely mark you out as middle aged - the elderly might
still regard it as too shocking to utter, while the young would regard
it as a rather prissy obscenity which would be better replaced by
something still satisfyingly obscene like "fucking".
Matthew
Mike Oliver
> It's roughly equivalent to "fucking" which can be used as an emphasiser,
> meaning "very" when attached to an adjective. Until recently it was
> regarded as obscene to the extent to which "fucking" as an emphasiser
> is now. However, as John says, it is now regarded as only mildly
> obscene.
What never made much sense to me, and I hazard, to most Americans,
is why it was ever thought obscene at all. The only explanation I've ever
heard was that it came from "by our Lady", which I suppose might
be considered religiously problematic--but surely less so than "Lord"
or "Jesus", which AFAIK have never been considered "obscene" in
the UK.
Ross Howard
wrote:
>Bun Mui wrote:
No, we're due for a Richard Branson next.
Ross Howard
Don Aitken
wrote:
I'm not sure what you mean by "recently", but "bloody" was first said
on the London stage, to some consternation, at the premiere of Shaw's
"Pygmalion" in 1914. At that time script approval from the Lord
Chamberlain was required before a play could be publicly performed. It
was about fifty years before "fucking" achieved the same imprimatur.
I seriously doubt that there is anyone still living who regards
"bloody" as "too shocking to utter" (as opposed to "inappropriate in
some situations").
--
Don Aitken
Thomas A Lawson
"Bloody" is used frequently in Oz, with a spectrum of meaning and subtle
nuances.
It features in a well-known poem about a bloke who had been:
"in Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga-bloody-roos".
--
Regards,
Tom Lawson
http://www.ditpublishing.com
M. Ranjit Mathews
I think it means that it is so good that it can't imaginably be
better.
When I was in school, "those buggers" meant a supercilious or
dismissive "those chaps", whereas "those bloody buggers" meant "those
pestilential/infernal fellows".
> Comments?
What did Shakespeare mean in "Othello" by "Some bloody passion shakes
your very frame."?
Steve Hayes
>I'm not sure what you mean by "recently", but "bloody" was first said
>on the London stage, to some consternation, at the premiere of Shaw's
>"Pygmalion" in 1914. At that time script approval from the Lord
>Chamberlain was required before a play could be publicly performed. It
>was about fifty years before "fucking" achieved the same imprimatur.
Which gave rise to a euphemism "Not Pygmalion likely", which later mutated
into "Not 'My fair lady' likely".
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/steve.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Steve Hayes
<jus...@ditpublishing.com> wrote:
>"Bloody" is used frequently in Oz, with a spectrum of meaning and subtle
>nuances.
>
>It features in a well-known poem about a bloke who had been:
>
>"in Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga-bloody-roos".
In South Africa it was used ages ago in a poem I learned at school:
On some South African novelists, by Roy Campbell
You praise the firm restraint with which they write;
I'm with you there, of course.
They use the snaffle and the curb all right,
but where's the bloody horse?
Igor Merfert
<9g4mv4$dmn$1...@beta.qmw.ac.uk>. Unfortunately it has not shown up at
Deja so far. This is the reason I post my reply here.)
Matthew M. Huntbach wrote:
> [bloody]
> Its loss of obscenity seems to have resulted in it drifting into an
> archaism. It's not a word I ever hear young people using. Using it
> now would definitely mark you out as middle aged - the elderly might
> still regard it as too shocking to utter, while the young would regard
> it as a rather prissy obscenity which would be better replaced by
> something still satisfyingly obscene like "fucking".
Having had an English colleague for almost a year, as far as I
remember his three "favorite" words were
1. bloody
2. blast
3. bastard
Is that typically "English"?
Best regards,
Igor Merfert
Skitt
"Igor Merfert" <time4...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:d054b6cf.01061...@posting.google.com...
> Having had an English colleague for almost a year, as far as I
> remember his three "favorite" words were
>
> 1. bloody
> 2. blast
> 3. bastard
>
> Is that typically "English"?
Probably no more typical than bloeder Schweinehund and verfluchter
Auslaender were for Germans when I was there.
Matti Lamprhey
> don-a...@freeuk.com (Don Aitken) wrote:
>
> >I'm not sure what you mean by "recently", but "bloody" was first said
> >on the London stage, to some consternation, at the premiere of Shaw's
> >"Pygmalion" in 1914. At that time script approval from the Lord
> >Chamberlain was required before a play could be publicly performed. It
> >was about fifty years before "fucking" achieved the same imprimatur.
>
> Which gave rise to a euphemism "Not Pygmalion likely", which later
> mutated into "Not 'My fair lady' likely".
Which itself then mutilated into "Not floody likely", of course.
Matti
M. Ranjit Mathews
> On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 06:19:25 +0800, Thomas A Lawson
> <jus...@ditpublishing.com> wrote:
>
> >"Bloody" is used frequently in Oz, with a spectrum of meaning and subtle
> >nuances.
>
I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
Matthew M. Huntbach
Although the derivation from "By Our Lady" is frequently cited, it's a
fanciful folk etymology. There is no proof it originated in this way.
Possibly (I've no proof at all of it, it's just something that occurred
to me), "bloody" originally refered to menstrual blood. That would be an
explanation of why it was considered an obscenity.
Matthew Huntbach
M.J.Powell
Merfert <time4...@my-deja.com> writes
No.2 is very old-fashioned.
Mike
--
M.J.Powell
Matti Lamprhey
> Igor Merfert <time4...@my-deja.com> writes
> >
> >Having had an English colleague for almost a year, as far as I
> >remember his three "favorite" words were
> >
> >1. bloody
> >2. blast
> >3. bastard
> >
> >Is that typically "English"?
>
> No.2 is very old-fashioned.
Last used in the early 1960s by Terry-Thomas and "Professor" Jimmy Edwards.
But, of its time, typically English, yes.
Matti
John H
wrote:
Not really. "Bastard" is quite frequently used, but "bloody" is a bit
out-of-date, as pointed out elsewhere in this thread, and "blast" is
even less popular. "Blast" is not considered swearing.
--
John H
www.jfhopkin.com
John H
>your very frame."?
I'd guess it's a hot-blooded passion, although its relevance to HTML
is the subject of much debate by scholars.
--
John H
www.jfhopkin.com
Linz
Bloody hell. I'd have to disagree there, John. Or perhaps my friends
are all as out-of-date as me...
--
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
M. Ranjit Mathews
I use "blast" all the time and the other two rarely. I can't think of
a suitable (parliamentary and not irreverent) replacement for "blast".
> Matti
Mike Barnes
>I use "blast" all the time and the other two rarely. I can't think of
>a suitable (parliamentary and not irreverent) replacement for "blast".
Especially when playing Adventure. It's crucial.
--
Mike Barnes
Steve Hayes
wrote:
>I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
>modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
Look at the coffin
isn't it lovely?
Isn't it grand, boys
to be lying ther dead?
Let's not have a sniffle
Let's have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody well die.
M. Ranjit Mathews
> On 13 Jun 2001 02:19:40 -0700, ranjit_...@yahoo.com (M. Ranjit Mathews)
> wrote:
>
> >I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
> >modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
>
> Look at the coffin
> isn't it lovely?
> Isn't it grand, boys
> to be lying ther dead?
> Let's not have a sniffle
> Let's have a bloody good cry
> And always remember the longer you live
> The sooner you'll bloody well die.
That's the one!
M.J.Powell
<haye...@yahoo.com> writes
>On 13 Jun 2001 02:19:40 -0700, ranjit_...@yahoo.com (M. Ranjit Mathews)
>wrote:
>
>
>>I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
>>modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
>
>Look at the coffin
>isn't it lovely?
>Isn't it grand, boys
>to be lying ther dead?
>Let's not have a sniffle
>Let's have a bloody good cry
>And always remember the longer you live
>The sooner you'll bloody well die.
There is also the poem written by a bored naval officer during the war
called 'In Bloody Orkney', which has 'bloody' in every line.
Mike
--
M.J.Powell
Tom Prigge
blood of Christ. Rahter than actually use God or Christ as a swear
word, bloody is used instead. I can't cite a specific authority for
this, it's just a stray bit of information I picked up.
Tom P.
Roger Whitehead
What bloody use is that?
OED2 says different:
The origin is not quite certain; but there is good reason to think that it was
at first a reference to the habits of the ‘bloods’ or aristocratic rowdies of
the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th c. The phrase ‘bloody drunk’ was
apparently = ‘as drunk as a blood’ (cf. ‘as drunk as a lord’); thence it was
extended to kindred expressions, and at length to others; probably, in later
times, its associations with bloodshed and murder (cf. a bloody battle, a
bloody butcher) have recommended it to the rough classes as a word that
appeals to their imagination. We may compare the prevalent craving for
impressive or graphic intensives, seen in the use of jolly, awfully, terribly,
devilish, deuced, damned, ripping, rattling, thumping, stunning, thundering,
etc. There is no ground for the notion that ‘bloody’, offensive as from
associations it now is to ears polite, contains any profane allusion or has
connexion with the oath ‘’s blood!’ [i.e. God's blood].
Regards,
Roger
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Roger Whitehead,
Oxted, Surrey, England
M. Ranjit Mathews
> Bloody is a curse that uses the Lord's name in vain. The "blood" is the
> blood of Christ. Rahter than actually use God or Christ as a swear
> word, bloody is used instead.
Oh my gosh! Are we darned to heck?
> I can't cite a specific authority for
> this, it's just a stray bit of information I picked up.
blōdig tībor = bloody sacrifice (of Baldur at the hands of Loki)
http://www.midhnottsol.org/public/poems/text/000_04.txt
His bloody sacrifice on the Cross, ...
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10006a.htm
In Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas tells God:
God, I'll never ever know why you chose me for your crime; for your foul bloody crime.
Steve Hayes
wrote:
>haye...@yahoo.com (Steve Hayes) wrote in message news:<3b287f1e...@news.saix.net>...
>> On 13 Jun 2001 02:19:40 -0700, ranjit_...@yahoo.com (M. Ranjit Mathews)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
>> >modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
>>
>> Look at the coffin
>> isn't it lovely?
>> Isn't it grand, boys
>> to be lying ther dead?
>> Let's not have a sniffle
>> Let's have a bloody good cry
>> And always remember the longer you live
>> The sooner you'll bloody well die.
>
>That's the one!
Thought it might be. I learnt it from an Irish bus conductor I worked with on
London Transport more years ago than I would like to remember.
Matthew M. Huntbach
> On 13 Jun 2001 02:19:40 -0700, ranjit_...@yahoo.com (M. Ranjit Mathews)
> wrote:
> >I remember an Irish song that sounded quite old fashioned (it wasn't
> >modern pop) whose refrain had bloodys in it.
> Look at the coffin
> isn't it lovely?
> Isn't it grand, boys
> to be lying ther dead?
> Let's not have a sniffle
> Let's have a bloody good cry
> And always remember the longer you live
> The sooner you'll bloody well die.
It was much more likely to be one of those Irish songs about some
group of people slaughtering some other group of people. Probably
the wicked Brits slaughtering the native Irish, though just maybe
vice versa. Thus "bloody" would have been used with its literal
meaning of "covered in blood" rather than as a mild obscenity.
It was never regarded as obscene when used it its literal meaning.
Matthew Huntbach
Steve Hayes
It seems that my guess was right, however, and that that was the song Ranjit
was thinking of.
Look at the mourners
Bloody great hypocrites
Isn't it grand, boys
To be lying there dead....
Look at the tombstones,
Bloody great boulders... etc.