I remember reading once that “bloody” as an oath was a corruption of “by our Lady”–Mary, of course. If so, it would probably, since it has a fairly Roman Catholic ring to it, predate the Anglican Church.
Naturally, I came across this aeons ago, & can’t remember the source. Any comments, confirmations?
If so then whence “bleedin’”, i.e. “No one has answered your bleedin’ question?”
>>I remember reading once that “bloody” as an oath was a corruption of “by our Lady”–Mary, of course. If so, it would probably, since
it has a fairly Roman Catholic ring to it, predate the Anglican Church. Naturally, I came across this aeons ago, & can’t remember the source. Any comments, confirmations?<<
My comment would be “Good Catch, Monsignor!” as obviously some cardinal or other mucky-muck has just come by during a conversation about the altar boys getting itto the sacramental wine, and Monsignor has managed to hack out “Bloo-day, and what a fine lady Our Lady is.” After which a vicar or something would reiterate "By Our Most Fine Lady, then, Monsignor If so then whence “bleedin’”, i.e. “No one has answered your bleedin’ question?” remember reading once that “bloody” as an oath was a corruption of “by our Lady”–Mary, of course. If so, it would probably, since it has a fairly Roman Catholic ring to it, predate the Anglican Church. Naturally, I came across this aeons ago, & can’t remember the source. Any comments, confirmations?
My comment would be “Good catch Monsignor!” He has obviously been in the middle of browbeating the altar boys for filching the sacramental wine “Balooo!-” when along comes a cardinal “dy.” A priest or deacon, sensing his moment in the sun, pats the Monsignior on the shoulder and says, “That’s right, by Our Lady, and a great lady she is, praise Mary.” As a result, that deacon will not again be assigned to the sunrise Mass, or the Christmas morning service.
If so then whence "bleedin'", i.e. "No one has answered your bleedin' question?"
–Rowan
If my mother had been in charge of the War on Drugs,
it would be "Just say 'No thank you.'"<<If so then whence “bleedin’”, i.e. “No one has answered your bleedin’ question?”>> --RTA
Feels good to say. Has many of the same phonemes as Freaking, friggin’, blow, bugger. May have something to do with the stigmata. May something to do with periods.
If I make this reference to my car when it won’t start, am I comparing to myself when I am bloody, and not at my best? Probably not, but is sounds better than wishing the stigmata on it.
Although… A car with stigmata. That should sell some tickets! Remember the cinnamon roll that looked like Mother Theresa? or rather, slightly more like her than most cinnamon rolls look like Mother Threresa-- the bakery turned a pretty penney until her beatifiedliness herself said “No more.”
What she afraid? They’ll use the bun money to get an abortion. That’s not why they call it bun money.
–Rowan
If my mother had been in charge of the War on Drugs,
it would be "Just say 'No thank you.'"OK-- I tried to do a double cut, and then comment on two different posts at once. You can see for yourselves how badly that went, and rest assured, I have no intention of trying again.
–Rowan
If my mother had been in charge of the War on Drugs,
it would be "Just say 'No thank you.'"I heard somewhere that it had to do with the “bloody flux” and that it was kindof a curse on someone-like “pox on you”.
<< I remember reading once that “bloody” as an oath was a corruption of “by our Lady” >>
<< I heard somewhere that it had to do with the “bloody flux” and that it was kindof a curse on someone-like “pox on you”. >>
The one I’d always heard was that it had to do with the Blood of Christ … Suitably blasphemous for a curseword, of course.
Naw, it’s British, it’s Blood-Dy = Blood of Di, a reference to the tragic death of the late Princess of Wales.
C’mon, sheeeesh, read the Mailbag entry before making comments, eh? Terey discounts the “Blood of Christ” origin theory.
I had been told by a (somewhat unreliable) college professor that it was referring to the blood of menstration. “Bloody hell” was a particularly nasty hell. This also explains the derivation of “bleeding.”
Menstration is often considered a period (no pun intended) of ritual uncleanliness, so that could be why it’s used as a swear word. Kind of like using the word “shit”.
The Oxford English Dictionary says:
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that the origin is uncertain, but there is reason to believe that it comes from slang “blood”, meaning young aristocratic hooligan, originally used in phrases like “bloody drunk” (c.f. “drunk as a lord”), and then, by the obvious associations of blood itself, extended to a general sense of horridness;
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that there is no reason to believe that it is related to “blood of Christ”, “God’s blood”, or “s’blood”;
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nothing at all about “by’r lady” (which makes sense, because “bloody” first appears only after 200 years of Protestantism), and
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that “bleeding” is simply a substitute for “bloody”.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
Great, John, thanks. You might check the Archives/Mailbag and search on “bloody” where you would find that Terey said all that.
Sheeeeesh and double sheeeeesh. This is supposed to be a forum for COMMENTS about the Mailbag items, not for just aping the Mailbag items.
Just to muddy the waters a bit; I’ve often run across the expression “Damn your blood!” in British nautical fiction. Not as common as “Damn your eyes!”, but just as confusing.
I’m glad I live in a country where we can express these sentiments with a simple hand gesture.