blue devils
Feelings of anxiety or depression
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blue flag
He has hoisted the blue flag; he has commenced publican, or taken a public house, an allusion to the blue aprons worn by publicans. See ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE.
Blue Guards
So the Oxford Blues, now called the Royal Horse Guards, were called during the campaign in Flanders (1742-5).
Blue Hen's Chickens
The nickname for inhabitants of the State of Delaware. It is said that in the Revolutionary War a certain Captain Caldwell commanded, and brought to a high state of efficiency, a Delaware regiment. He used to say that no cock could be truly game whose mother was not a blue hen. Hence the Delaware regiment became known as "Blue Hen's Chickens,'* and the name was transferred to the inhabitants of the State generally.
Blue John
A blue fluor-spar, found in the Blue John mine near Castleton, Derbyshire; so called to distinguish it from the Black Jack, an ore of zinc. Called John from John Kirk, a miner, who first noticed it.
blue laws
This is a phrase used in U.S.A. to describe laws which interfere with personal freedom, tastes and habits, such as sumptuary laws and those regulating private morals. The name was .first given to several laws of this kind said to have been imposed in the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven in the early 18th century.
Blue Monday
The Monday before Lent, spent in dissipation. It is said that dissipation gives everything a blue tinge. Hence "blue" means tipsy.
blue moon
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
blue moon
Once in a blue moon. Very rarely indeed.
blue murder
To shout blue murder. Indicative more of terror or alarm than* of real danger. It appears to be a play on the French exclamation morbleu; there may also be an allusion to the common phrase "blue ruin.
blue murders
Probably from desperate or alarming cries. A term used more to describe cries of terror or alarm than for any other purpose. As, "I heard her calling BLUE MURDERS."—MORBLEU.
blue note
a feeling of sadness or melancholy
blue pigeons
Thieves who steal lead off houses and churches. Cant. To fly a blue pigeon; to steal lead off houses or churches.
blue pipe
A vein.
blue plumb
A bullet.--Surfeited with a blue plumb; wounded with a bullet. A sortment of George R--'s blue plumbs; a volley of ball, shot from soldiers' firelocks.
blue ribbon
First place or best in a competition
Blue Shirts
A force of Irish Volunteers taken to Spain by General O'Duffy to help General Franco in the civil war, 1936-9.
blue skin
A person begotten on a black woman by a white man. One of the blue squadron; any one having a cross of the black breed, or, as it is termed, a lick of the tar brush.
Blue Squadron
One of the three divisions of the British Fleet in the 17th century. See ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE.
blue state
A state that consistently votes Democratic in elections
blue stocking
A female pedant. In 1400 a society of ladies and gentlemen was formed at Venice, distinguished by the colour of their stockings, and called della calza. It lasted till 1590, when it appeared in Pans and was the rage among the lady savants. From France it came to England in 1780, when Mrs. Mon- tague displayed the badge of the Bas-bleu club at her evening assemblies. Mr. Benjamin Stillingfleet was a constant attendant of the soirees.
blue tape
Gin.
blue wall of silence
A barrier of secrecy or refusal to cooperate, especially among police officers
Blue-coat School
Christ's Hospital is so called because the boys there wear a long blue coat girded at the loins with a leather belt. Some who attend the mathematical school are termed King's boys, and those who constitute the highest class are Grecians. The school was founded by Edward VI the year of his death. It was moved from London to Horsham in 1902.
blue-eyed boy
a favorite or highly valued person
Blue-eyed Maid
Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, is so called by Homer. Now Prudence gently pulled the poet's ear, And thus the daughter of the Blue-eyed Maid, In flattery's soothing sounds, divinely said, " O Peter, eldest-born of Phoebus, hear.
Blue-light Federalists
A name given to those Americans who were believed to have made friendly ("blue-light") signals to British ships in the war of 1812.
blue-pigeon-flyer
Sometimes a journeyman plumber, glazier, or other workman, who, when repairing houses, strips off the lead, and makes away with it. This performance is, though, by no means confined to workmen. An empty house is often entered and the whole of the roof in its vicinity stripped, the only notice given to the folks below being received by them on the occasion of a heavy downfall of rain.
blue-sky thinking
Unconventional and imaginative ideas without limits
bluebeard's key
When the blood stain of this key was rubbed out on one side, it appeared on the opposite side; so prodigality being overcome will appear m the form of meanness; and friends, over-fond, will often become enemies.
bluebird of happiness
A symbol of joy and contentment
blued
Or BLEWED, tipsy, or drunk. Now given way to SLEWED.
blues
A fit of despondency.—See BLUE DEVILS.
bluey
Lead.—German, BLEI. Most likely, though, from the colour, as the term is of the very lowest slang.
bluff
Fierce, surly. He looked as bluff as bull beef.
bluff
An excuse; also the game at cards known as euchre in America.
bluffer
An inn-keeper. Cant.
blunderbuss
A short gun, with a wide bore, for carrying slugs; also a stupid, blundering fellow.
blunt
A marijuana cigar.
blunt
Money. It has been said that this term is from the French BLOND, sandy or golden colour, and that a parallel may be found in BROWN or BROWNS, the slang for half-pence. Far-fetched as this etymology seems, it may be correct, as it is borne out by the analogy of similar expressions. Cf. BLANQUILLO, a word used in Morocco and Southern Spain for a small Moorish coin. The "asper" (ἄσπρον) of Constantinople is called by the Turks AKCHEH, i.e., "little white."
blur the line
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
blurt out
To say something suddenly and without thinking
bo-peep
Sleep.
bo-peep
One who sometimes hides himself, and sometimes appears publicly abroad, is said to-play at bo-peep. Also one who lies perdue, or on the watch.
Boar's Head
The Old English custom of serving this as a Christmas dish is said to derive from Scandinavian mythology. Freyr, the god of peace and plenty, used to ride on the boar Gullmbursti ; his festival was held at Yuletide (winter solstice),, when a boar was sacrificed to his honour.
board wages
Wages paid to servants which includes the cost of their food. Ser- vants "on board wages" provide their own victuals.
board-of-green-cloth
A facetious synonym for a card or billiard table.
boardie
surfer
boarding school
Bridewell, Newgate, or any other prison, or house of correction.
boarding school
A school where the pupils are fed and lodged as well as taught The term is sometimes applied to "prison." I am going to boarding school, going to prison to be taught good behaviour.
boat
Originally to transport; the term is now applied to penal servitude. To "get the BOAT," or to "be BOATED," is to be sentenced to a long term of imprisonment equivalent to transportation under the old system.
boat race
The face.
boatercycle
A jet ski.
bob
A shilling.
bob
A shoplifter's assistant, or one that receives and carries off stolen goods. All is bob; all is safe. Cant.
bob
A shilling. Formerly BOBSTICK, which may have been the original. BOB-A-NOB, a shilling a-head.
bob stay
A rope which holds the bowsprit to the stem or cutwater. Figuratively, the frenum of a man's yard.
bob tail
A lewd woman, or one that plays with her tail; also an impotent man, or an eunuch. Tag, rag, and bobtail; a mob of all sorts of low people. To shift one's bob; to move off, or go away. To bear a bob; to join in chorus with any singers. Also a term used by the sellers of game, for a partridge.
bob's your uncle
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bob's your uncle
In other words, "That'll be all right; you needn't bother any more." The origin of the phrase is unknown; it was certainly in use in the 1880s, but no satisfactory explanation of who "Bob" was has been brought forward.
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