# Who put the "blue" in "blue movies"? Blue nosers?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 19, 2000, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912 "2000-06-19T23:54:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2000, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/1 "2000-06-19T23:54:19Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/2 "2000-06-20T12:23:36Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/3 "2000-06-20T14:43:36Z")

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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.

[http://www.word-detective.com/051600.html#bluelaws](http://www.word-detective.com/051600.html#bluelaws)

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/4 "2000-06-20T20:10:52Z")

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Aren’t bluenoses people from Halifax? Or is it all Nova Scotians?

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**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2000, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/5 "2000-06-21T04:50:11Z")

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And here I sit thinking that Bluenoses are sailors who have sailed into the Arctic circle…

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**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2000, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-put-the-blue-in-blue-movies-blue-nosers/22912/6 "2000-06-21T05:18:37Z")

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from [www.dictionary.com](http://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).