blue murder
Preserved but no longer current.
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.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “blue murder” mean?
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.
Is “blue murder” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.