Anybody have any idea where the “Blue” in “Blue Movie” comes from? You think it has any correlation to the term “Blue Nose” used to describe a puritanical, easily offended person?
It comes from Blue Laws–laws about what you
couldn’t do on the Sabbath (Bergen County, New
Jersey still has a bunch of them). These laws
were printed on blue paper, as opposed to regular
white. Hence the term “Blue” for pornography.
Annie: Not according to the “Word Detective” (link below)who sez that blue = lewd and blue = Sabbath-violating have no direct connection. The Word Dick sez the origin of blue = lewd is unknown.
I have no idea how reliable the Word Dick is (so I will not defend his statement), but I just thought I should post what I found, being that it specifically refutes the connection you suggest.
Aren’t bluenoses people from Halifax? Or is it all Nova Scotians?
And here I sit thinking that Bluenoses are sailors who have sailed into the Arctic circle…
from www.dictionary.com:
blue·nose
n.
A puritanical person: “Bluenoses demand restraint against the porn and violence that are the staple of popular culture” (Charles Krauthammer).