blue murder

[charlandy]

what and where does the saying to screem blue murder origionate please

[Quizmonster]

The words �blue murder' appear in phrases such as �scream blue murder' or �get away with blue murder'. The idea comes from French. If something dreadful occurred, the French used to say �Mort Dieu!', meaning �God's death!' Over time, this altered euphemistically to �mortbleu/morbleu' and that translated as �blue death' or �blue murder' in 19th century English. The same use of �bleu' is seen in the French exclamation, �Sacr� bleu!' Nowadays, the phrases mentioned in the opening sentence above just mean �a lot of noise about nothing' and �something terrible'.

[mibn2cweus]

The words �blue murder' appear in phrases such as �scream blue murder' or �get away with blue murder'. The idea comes from French. If something dreadful occurred, the French used to say �Mort Dieu!', meaning �God's death!' Over time, this altered euphemistically to �mortbleu/morbleu' and that translated as �blue death' or �blue murder' in 19th century English. The same use of �bleu' is seen in the French exclamation, �Sacr� bleu!' Nowadays, the phrases mentioned in the opening sentence above just mean �a lot of noise about nothing' and �something terrible'.

Regards to Quizmonster!

[charlandy]

Great. Many thanks to you both for the answer. A.

[Quizmonster]

Am I missing something here? Imitation, they say, is the sincerest form of flattery...but copying and pasting?!

[mibn2cweus]

Quizmonster, it would be admiration for your ability to tackle two? questions with the same answer.

See blue murder