# Why is "bloody" nasty?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 19, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648 "2003-09-19T18:15:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/1 "2003-09-19T18:15:39Z")

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As a Yankee I have always been amused by the British usage of “bloody” as an expletive.

On a visit to Scotland I noticed that folks used “fuck” or some grammatical variant in social settings with relative impunity, but say “bloody” and by God you got some loks.

What gives?

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**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/2 "2003-09-19T18:18:50Z")

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Apocryphal comment: I’ve heard the origins of “bloody” stem from an association with female menstruation.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/3 "2003-09-19T18:22:32Z")

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I always thought “bloody” was a contraction or corruption of “By Our Lady” so maybe it is considered blasphemous or something.

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/4 "2003-09-19T18:37:33Z")

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Beside the possibly connoting the Virgin Mary, it is also thought that “bloody” may refer to the wounds of Christ on the cross. The now archaic oath “zounds” (or zwounds) is a direct reference to Christ’s stigmata.

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/5 "2003-09-19T18:39:20Z")

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Previous thread from a couple of weeks ago: [Why is everything “bloody?”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=209343)

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**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:** [September 19, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bloody-nasty/202648/6 "2003-09-19T18:39:59Z")

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Erm, that’s not the case around here, “fuck” is always considered a stronger expletive that “bloody” in the part of the country I come from. Whatever you do, don’t let your mother here you say “fuck”.