Oct 19, 2020 · The second earliest in-the-wild match (from 1832) that I found seems to play on the connection between blue from "blue devils" and blue from "turning blue" with cold. As for …

Apr 10, 2023 · The entry on ‘blue’ as a noun defines it as lead, and for entries using ‘blue’ as an adjective, ‘blue film/movie’ doesn’t show up at all. Here is the full quote: blue, n. Lead: 1791, …

The phrase “working blue” came into usage at the time. If a representative of the Keith Orpheum circuit objected to the content of an act, a request to cut the material was sent backstage in a …

Jun 9, 2015 · Both "the meenester" in Hart's story and Dr. Miner (a Universalist minister) in real life are unlikely to have stood in their pulpits and filled the air with four-letter words; so it seems …

Jun 3, 2018 · wordhistories from the 1700's.. Then in the 20th century emerged the business jargon: blue sky thinking. Origin: Some people believe this began as a reference to casual …

That same reference reports that blue in the sense of "lewd, rude, suggestive" appeared in American English by 1840. The same sense of blue appears in England, too. Thus, Farmer & …

Apr 5, 2020 · Ye blue blazes of damnation! 1821 [Ire] ‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 166: Blood and blue blazes, swore old Mrs. Tarpaulin. According to the Word Detective: The choice …

Jun 29, 2019 · The words "blue murder" and "blue funk" have in common their use of blue as an intensifier conveying (originally, anyway) a sense of greater fear or dread. The terms first …

Jul 21, 2017 · A blue ribbon winner would have been a craze, which may have led to its popularity being its own downfall. As public pressure against gin grew, its popularity as a blue ribbon …

Dec 27, 2013 · The Memphis daily appeal of October 13, 1862 has an example of blue chips used for the card game of faro: We have had another descent by the police upon the faro banks, …