# Why is everything "bloody?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 5, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751 "2003-09-05T16:44:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/21 "2003-09-07T23:46:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MC Master of Ceremonies \*
> \*\*No, bloody is the most mildest swear-word you can get… \*\*
No it blooming well isn’t, you blinking twit.
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### Author:  [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/22 "2003-09-08T00:00:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \*
> \*\*Yes. It’s supposedly a corruption of the expression “by my lady”, meaning the virgin Mary. \*\*
Canadians say bloody all the time. I had no idea it meant anything. I’ve actually learned something here.
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### Author:  [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/23 "2003-09-08T00:01:50Z")
Down this neck of the woods bloody isn’t swearing it just means very, “It’s bloody cold today”, He’s a bloody good mate", “That was a bloody good movie”.
Ok it is not the the word you would use when you were on your very best behaviour, but it certainly does not have the ability to shock or offend like other swear words do.
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### Author:  [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/24 "2003-09-08T00:04:52Z")
It’s used frequently by British characters on television to mean roughly, “Hey, look at me! I’m British!”
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### Author:  [@LucysLogic101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucysLogic101)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/25 "2003-09-08T02:56:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by gallows fodder \*
> \*\*I’ve always wondered about just how bad a word “bloody” is. IIRC, Ron Weasely says this in one of the Harry Potter movies, so can it really be comparable to the “f-word,” as that SD Mailbag column states? \*\*
i wondered this myself because in the book, none of the characters say “bloody” - they all say “ruddy,” a milder version…kind of like using “freakin’” because you can’t say “fuckin’.”
[QUOTE]
_Originally posted by Walloon_
**A few pretentious Americans say it too.**
i’ve been saying it since I was about 12 - how can a 12 year old be pretentious? I got it because my parents always had Monty Python on around the house. I had friends who would ask “What, do you think you’re British?” “Actually, I am - Dad’s side of the family.” :wally As if, to them, being British justified using such slang. Bloody idiots.
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### Author:  [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/26 "2003-09-08T02:59:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by g8rguy \*
> \*\*Hey, I resent that! I think it’s a marvelously useful word, that’s all. \*\*
Hell, its a bloody marvelouse word.
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### Author:  [@LucysLogic101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucysLogic101)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/27 "2003-09-08T03:00:46Z")
…books…in the book **S** they say “ruddy.” …i realize there is more than one Harry Potter book - I SHOULD realize, I’ve read all of them. My apologies
that and the fumble on the second quote…oh whatever, bloody hell.
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### Author:  [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/28 "2003-09-08T11:40:46Z")
Goldarn It…sheesh, bloody 'ell mate wassat mean?
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/29 "2003-09-08T11:49:23Z")
When I was a kid, it was totally verboten.
There were jokes that would trick you into saying the word: “I’ll get his blood, he knows I will.”
Now it’s used on kids’ shows.
Things change.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/30 "2003-09-08T12:09:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Walloon_
> A few pretentious Americans say it too.
I’ve said “bloody” for decades. But then, I watched a lot of _Monty Python_ when I was a kid, and I was a big fan of _The Young Ones_. (The error sound on my computer is Vyvyan shouting, “Bloody! Bloody! Bloody!”) I don’t see it as being pretentious. After all, my spelling notwithstanding I don’t pretend to be English. (FWIW, I picked up my spelling in high school because I thought it looked better than the American way. Maybe that’s pretentious, but I just thought – and think – it looks better on the page.)
Anyway, “bloody” is more acceptable than saying “fuck” or “God damn(ed)”.
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### Author:  [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/31 "2003-09-08T12:34:13Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jjimm \*
> \*\*When I was a kid, it was totally verboten.
>
> There were jokes that would trick you into saying the word: “I’ll get his blood, he knows I will.”\*\*
Ya know, I’ve always wondered whether The Beatles song, “Oh Bla Dee, Life Goes On” (or however it’s spelled) was just such an attempt to get millions of teenagers to sing “Oh Bloody” without realizing it…
Barry
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### Author:  [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/32 "2003-09-08T13:53:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Isabelle \*
> **"get your bloody asses out of the way"**
That would be “arses” if we’re doing Brit-talk. 😉
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### Author:  [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/33 "2003-09-08T14:48:08Z")
In my experience bloody’s regarded as a pretty mild swear word here. To go off at a slight tangent, my Gran always used “hair oil!” as a swear word. I’ve never heard this anywhere else, nor has anyone I’ve spoken to. Has anyone on SDMB, or was Gran just a bit mad?
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### Author:  [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/34 "2003-09-08T14:50:20Z")
**Jennyrosity** please use “hair oil” in the context your Gran would use. I fail to see how this is a cuss word. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everything-bloody/199751/35 "2003-09-08T15:05:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Jennyrosity \*
> \*\*In my experience bloody’s regarded as a pretty mild swear word here. To go off at a slight tangent, my Gran always used “hair oil!” as a swear word. I’ve never heard this anywhere else, nor has anyone I’ve spoken to. Has anyone on SDMB, or was Gran just a bit mad? \*\*
I think your Gran probably meant _arsehole_
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