# Why does "blue" mean "obscene"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186 "2008-12-08T00:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/1 "2008-12-08T00:34:47Z")
As in “blue humor,” “blue movies,” etc. (And yet, at the same time, “blue laws” are religious-morality laws and a “bluenose” is a moral reformer.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/2 "2008-12-08T01:23:36Z")
According to [this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_blue) (which you may take with as many grains of salt as you like), “The term comes from the music hall comedian Max Miller who kept all his adult jokes in a blue coloured notebook.” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/3 "2008-12-08T01:33:38Z")
[Why Are Blue Laws Called 'Blue Laws'? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/bluelaws.asp) Snopes and a couple other sites take it back to the Puritans. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/4 "2008-12-08T01:38:06Z")
> [@](#): > > (And yet, at the same time, “blue laws” are religious-morality laws and a “bluenose” is a moral reformer.) Which are laws prohibiting exactly the sort of thing that blue humor deals with. I don’t see a conflict at all between the two usages. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/5 "2008-12-08T01:42:27Z")
I’m not buying the Max Miller thing, since the term “Blue Stocking” referring to an overly educated/intelligent woman was commonly understood terminology long before his birth. The first reference I can find (in admittedly quick, lazy search) is 1871 in an article by Samuel Peters – over 100 years before Max was even a twinkle. I do have a vague recollection of earlier references to “bluenose” being a disparaging term for a totally uptight old prig, but that dates (roughly) to about the time of my switch from History to Anthropology as a major, so I wouldn’t like to bet it’s an accurate memory. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/6 "2008-12-08T02:16:47Z")
The OED seems to have the earliest cite from 1824, and from a Scottish source, so it may not be American at all. It may be related to “bluestocking,” which dates from 1790 and meant a “refined” woman, known for their contempt of more mundane life. Blue humor would upset the bluestockings. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/7 "2008-12-08T02:21:23Z")
OED > [@](#): > > 1. = BLUENESS 4. Cf. BLUE a. 9. > > 1824 MACTAGGART Gallov. Encycl. 446 Thread o’ Blue, any little smutty touch in song-singing, chatting, or piece of writing. 1889 BARRÈRE & LELAND Dict. Slang I. 145/2 ‘A bit of blue’, an obscene or libidinous anecdote. Seems like it was used in the sense you want it by 1824. > [@](#): > > . colloq. a. Indecent, obscene. Cf. BLUE n. 14 and BLUENESS 4. > > 1864 HOTTEN Slang Dict. 78 Blue, said of talk that is smutty or indecent. 1935 Economist 16 Mar. 584/2 The songs sounded not vulgar exactly, but..‘a bit on the blue side’. 1959 Spectator 14 Aug. 180/1 It meant that the theatre-going public were deprived of..outstanding contemporary plays, yet allowed to visit ‘blue’ variety shows. 1965 Punch 2 June 799/1 He also wanted to see a blue movie. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/8 "2008-12-08T05:35:00Z")
> [@MadPansy64](#): > > Snip\> is 1871 in an article by Samuel Peters – over 100 years before Max was even a twinkle. 1 **7** 71. I’m a bad-typing, nonproofreading dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/9 "2008-12-08T15:56:47Z")
My high school Spanish teacher amused the class by telling us that the Spanish equivalent was “es verde” or green. I haven’t checked this as it’s the one thing from high school Spanish I remember and I don’t want to spoil that. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/10 "2008-12-08T16:31:08Z")
What I find amusing is that in Chinese, “yellow” is the equivalent term. (Cue mass of confusion when first generation Chinese read about “yellow journalism” and get the wrong idea.) ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/11 "2008-12-08T16:48:30Z")
Possible related question: Would the use of “blue” here be in any way related to the concept of “feeling blue?” I realize that in the OP’s sense it is obscene/dirty and in this one it’s intended as feeling sad, but it seems like they should share a common etymology since they are both used to indicate a negative sentiment. While we’re at it, where does “blue blood” fit in? Anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/12 "2008-12-08T17:25:04Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > While we’re at it, where does “blue blood” fit in? Anywhere? Different origin. Aristocrats would avoid the sun as far as humanly possible so noone could mistake them for common labourers, and their veins looked blue through the pale skin. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/13 "2008-12-08T17:32:43Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > Different origin. Aristocrats would avoid the sun as far as humanly possible so noone could mistake them for common labourers, and their veins looked blue through the pale skin. Ah – so that’s why the aristocracy was always depicted as being so pale. Makes sense. So what of “feeling blue” then? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/14 "2008-12-08T17:40:16Z")
> [@MadPansy64](#): > > . . . 1871 . . . over 100 years before Max was even a twinkle. By 100 years later (1971), Max was already dead. ---
**Author:** ![scotpens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@scotpens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotpens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/15 "2016-01-03T03:45:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > My high school Spanish teacher amused the class by telling us that the Spanish equivalent was “es verde” or green. I haven’t checked this as it’s the one thing from high school Spanish I remember and I don’t want to spoil that. David Dodge, author of humorous travel books, wrote a book in the late 1940s about his family’s adventures in Mexico. It seems that in every Mexican city he visited, he saw billboards advertising a movie called _Que verde era mi padre_ – literally “How Green Was My Father”, which became the title of his book. At the time, he assumed the movie’s title was a take-off on _How Green Was My Valley_. Later he learned that _verde_ was Spanish slang for “dirty” in a sexual sense. _Viejo verde_ is the Spanish equivalent of “dirty old man.” BTW, David Dodge also wrote the novel on which the Hitchcock film _To Catch a Thief_ was based. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/16 "2016-01-03T03:52:39Z")
> [@scotpens](#): > > David Dodge, author of humorous travel books, wrote a book in the late 1940s about his family’s adventures in Mexico. It seems that in every Mexican city he visited, he saw billboards advertising a movie called _Que verde era mi padre_ – literally “How Green Was My Father”, which became the title of his book. At the time, he assumed the movie’s title was a take-off on _How Green Was My Valley_. Later he learned that _verde_ was Spanish slang for “dirty” in a sexual sense. _Viejo verde_ is the Spanish equivalent of “dirty old man.” > > BTW, David Dodge also wrote the novel on which the Hitchcock film _To Catch a Thief_ was based. Vindication for my teacher! Cool. Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-blue-mean-obscene/476186/17 "2016-01-03T10:42:54Z")
And the title is a pun on _Que verde era mi valle_, so Dodge was right about the derivation. He just happened to miss the pun.