Comments on: British hate ‘bloody’, Canadians hate ‘hell’

By: bob smith

bob smith — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:43:07 +0000

Being an englishmen i say bloody hell alot, it doesnt generally mean anything other than some words stung together to form a phrase that one uses to show mild anger, nothing more

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 06:09:18 +0000

She was the origin of the term "bloody mary", but not for the word "bloody". The latter predated her.

By: Mary Siever

Mary Siever — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 05:09:14 +0000

what about Bloody Queen Mary? She was so-called because of all the deaths she was responsible (not the Saviour’s mother, but Queen Elizabeth I’s sister)

By: Louise

Louise — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 04:18:44 +0000

Now, Kim’s post is helping me understand. So, when my 16yo son says “Bloody hell, Mum” I can blame his catholic school. Excellent – I’ll pass the buck to those Christian Brothers – yes I like that idea. :)

But,hey my 10yo daughter says it too.

They were aiming for ‘naughty but nice’ in the ad campaign I suspect.

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 02:32:17 +0000

The origin of "bloody" is debated. One theory is that it derived from "by Our Lady", a reference to the Virgin Mary.

By: Mary Siever

Mary Siever — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 21:29:31 +0000

ltbugaf re#2

I sure hope not, because if so I will have to stop saying it. Sigh.

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:22:26 +0000

G. B. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” has a wonderful scene about Henry Higgins’ intemperate use of the word “bloody.” The whole scene is cleverly written without ever actually naming the word. I’m afraid when I played Higgins, the oblique references were somewhat lost on a modern Utah audience.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:04:22 +0000

Ah, bloody hell! Hehe.

I lived in Scotland for a number of years and this got ingrained into my brain…by church members. Hehe.

By: Kim Siever

Kim Siever — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:58:38 +0000

Lousie, I do not have a problem with people saying “bloody hell”.

By: ltbugaf

ltbugaf — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:57:51 +0000

My understanding of the British use of “bloody” has been that it is blaspheming by the blood of Christ. Anyone have evidence in favor or against?