# Is "bloody" still regarded as a profanity in the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394 "2006-03-29T14:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/21 "2006-03-29T21:43:22Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > A friend in the UK told me that while “bloody” is largely inoffensive, “bleeding” can still raise eyebrows. True? No. Although it may be a generational thing. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/22 "2006-03-29T21:48:01Z")
There’s a pretty good article explaining the current state of the term and if I could figure out how to include a link here, I could send you there and you could read it. Let’s see now…[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/holidays\_to\_swear\_by/](http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/holidays_to_swear_by/) did that do it? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/23 "2006-03-29T21:53:18Z")
Standards have changed even in my lifetime. I got sent out of class in the 1980s for using the word “hell” during a lesson. “Bloody” was similarly problematic. But now, it’s commonplace, and while not necessarily used on children’s shows, is not the sort of thing that’s reserved for the “watershed” (the 9pm deadline on terrestrial TV before which “fuck” can’t be used, or tits-n-asses be shown). Which is why I was so surprised about the whole kerfuffle regardin the Australian ad campaign. I liked the ad, though. Or rather, the chick in the bikini who says it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/24 "2006-03-29T21:54:58Z")
[Here’s the ad](http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com/). Great URL, too! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/25 "2006-03-29T21:58:50Z")
> [@CC](#): > > There’s a pretty good article explaining the current state of the term and if I could figure out how to include a link here, I could send you there and you could read it. Let’s see now…[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/holidays\_to\_swear\_by/](http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/holidays_to_swear_by/) > > did that do it? Yep - although the disclaimer at the end of the article, that the adverts would end up being run after all, has come to pass 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/26 "2006-03-30T00:04:26Z")
Correct me if I’ve got the story wrong…but “Pygmalion” included the word (Eliza Doolittle says “not bloody likely”) which caused quite a stir – given that it’s still controversial, I can imagine that it was even more so, 100 years ago. The film version of My Fair Lady doesn’t use the line, but strives for the same effect by having Eliza cheer her horse on with “move your bloomin’ arse”. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/27 "2006-03-30T00:09:38Z")
A common Shakespearean curse is s’blood, which is a contraction of By His Blood (He being Christ). I always considered ‘bloody’ to be derivative of that. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/28 "2006-03-30T12:37:37Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > IThis point actually just came up in the UK. An Australian ad campaign with the tag line “So where the bloody hell are you?” just caused a stir in the UK and a lot of confusion in Oz. > > [http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18403923-5001022,00.html](http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18403923-5001022,00.html) [Now upsetting family groups in the US, too.]([http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story\_page/0,5744,18](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18) 576718%255E23109,00.html ) Bloody stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/29 "2006-03-30T13:37:44Z")
> [@First Amongst Daves](#): > > [Now upsetting family groups in the US, too.]([http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story\_page/0,5744,18](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18) 576718%255E23109,00.html ) > > Bloody stupid. Your link is broken, but I’ll take your word for it and add my two cents that this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a long time. I don’t know anyone who’s an American by birth that says “bloody” as the Brits do. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/30 "2006-03-30T18:16:29Z")
And another one: now the [Canadians competing in the idiocy stakes](http://www.pulse24.com/Business/Top_Story/20060322-001/page.asp). Not for the word “bloody” but for the reference to beer. :smack: Mooseheads. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/31 "2006-03-30T23:40:59Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Your link is broken, but I’ll take your word for it and add my two cents that this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a long time. I don’t know anyone who’s an American by birth that says “bloody” as the Brits do. Likely it’s the “hell” part they’re upset about. I was talking yesterday to an adult woman who actually said, “h-e-double hockey sticks” rather than utter the H-word. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/32 "2006-03-31T02:26:52Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Your link is broken, but I’ll take your word for it and add my two cents that this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a long time. I don’t know anyone who’s an American by birth that says “bloody” as the Brits do. I don’t know where I picked it up from - either from watching the BBC on PBS, or comics and other books, but I’ve used it ever since I found out its connotation as a teenager. It was a ‘safe’ way to swear in public. I never had a complaint til my first year at college after high school, early '90’s. My algebra teacher was Indian via Britain. I made a comment on a paper, about what I can no longer remember, but used the word. He wrote a short note back for me to mind my language. Oops. No damage done really. I sensed he was more surprised to just see it (a good 3000 miles from the British Isles), then offended. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/33 "2006-03-31T06:19:45Z")
Ere now mind you dont tread on the bloody slaughterhouse floor Where should I put this bloody murder weapon How do you like your steak sir Bloody ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/34 "2006-03-31T12:17:10Z")
This segues naturally into the story about the bishop who goes to a steakhouse and orders a rare steak. He is appalled to hear the waiter yell “One bloody steak!” in the direction of the kitchen, but he calms down when he hears that this is how rare steak is referred to in the trade. So when he comes back a few days later with the curate, and is served by the same waiter, he roguishly orders “Two bloody steaks”. And as the waiter is writing it down, the curate adds “And get us some fucking chips as well!”. The _Pygmalion_ reference is right. And talking of “damn”, there was a mild kerfuffle when _HMS Pinafore_ was first staged, because the plot hinges on Captain Corcoran saying “Damme!” at one point. The Revd Dodgson was quite upset, and produced a little monograph on the subject. Royal use of “the B-vord” is nothing new. Princess Anne, who was quite the pottymouth in her youth, was famously quoted as saying it upwards of thirty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/35 "2006-03-31T12:33:38Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Your link is broken, but I’ll take your word for it and add my two cents that this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a long time. I don’t know anyone who’s an American by birth that says “bloody” as the Brits do. > **[Now the bloody Yanks are offended](https://www.smh.com.au/national/now-the-bloody-yanks-are-offended-20060324-gdn81e.html)** Here is a live link. Its the word “bloody” which is causing offence, not “hell”. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/36 "2006-03-31T13:44:15Z")
During the eighties, I worked with a young woman who had been raised in Hong Kong, mid-to-late twenties in age, I’d say. We got a new manager (American), and I remember her saying that she thought he was OK, but (in a very lowered voice just to me) “why does he keep using that awful word?” I can’t remember if I needed clarification or not, but the word she was objecting to was “bloody.” He’d picked if up from working with some British guys intensely earlier in his career. I had to explain to her that in the US, it wasn’t considered a swear word at all, but rather an innocuous substitute for one, like Darn or Drat. I disliked that manager intensely, but didn’t think it was fair to condemn him for that one. I suppose it’s quite possible that Hong Kong is more straight-laced in that respect than Great Britain itself. I don’t know about Hong Kong per se, but the Asian societies I’ve been exposed to have been more community- and less individual-oriented than western societies, and thus more inclined to follow rules in such matters. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/37 "2006-03-31T16:12:49Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > And talking of “damn”, there was a mild kerfuffle when _HMS Pinafore_ was first staged, because the plot hinges on Captain Corcoran saying “Damme!” at one point. But…but…he \*never \* swears a big, big D. Well, hardly ever. I always wondered if the "damme"in Pinafore was controversial. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/38 "2006-03-31T23:09:47Z")
> [@First Amongst Daves](#): > > [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/now-the-bloody-yanks-are-offended/2006/03/23/1143083882873.html](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/now-the-bloody-yanks-are-offended/2006/03/23/1143083882873.html) > > Here is a live link. Its the word “bloody” which is causing offence, not “hell”. From the article, a representative of the American Family Association is quoted as saying: "“I guess they use it all the time in Australia, but it’s a foreign language here so I think it’ll have a negative impact rather than positive.” Yup, different country so it must be a different language. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394/39 "2006-04-02T16:57:56Z")
I’ve generally gathered that the etymology is a contraction of the common Catholic expression “by our Lady,” which is in some dispute, but then again after the [Act of Supremacy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Supremacy_1534) was enacted and swiftly followed by the [Treason Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasons_Act_1534) it was probably not terribly politic (or smart, or conducive to continued existence) to use expressions which would mark one as a Catholic adherent. Reasonably speaking, this etymology would give the word the emotional freighting necessary to keep it active as a rude expression, while not being a very strong or offensive word in and of itself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bloody-still-regarded-as-a-profanity-in-the-uk/350394.md?page=1)