# Brits: why do you call England "Blighty?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-call-england-blighty/450117 "2008-05-21T15:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-call-england-blighty/450117/21 "2008-05-21T22:23:06Z")
My parents used to call each other “Blick” as an ironic term of endearment, and maintained that it was short for “blighter”. Perhaps only for them it was… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-call-england-blighty/450117/22 "2008-05-22T15:08:14Z")
Either way, there’s a delicious self-mocking in the word. Whether an Englishman calls his homeland a “Foreign” or a “Blighted” place, there’s a built-in joke. It’s charming. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-call-england-blighty/450117/23 "2008-05-22T15:17:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] There’s a surprising number of pre-WW1 British things that com from India. The word ‘bungalow’ for instance. [/QUOTE] Wrong, they were building a two-storey house one time and decide to “bung a low roof on it”, hence the name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-why-do-you-call-england-blighty/450117.md?page=1)