bloody English · revision 6796

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000|origins=ang blōd}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈblʌ.di/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|blōdig]], from [[m|ang|blōd]] (see [[blood]]) and the suffix [[-y]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) with cognates in [[ofs|blōdich]], [[nl|bloedig]] and [[de|blutig]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the nature of blood, or covered with blood: Old English, before 1000 in the OED.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Involving bloodshed is from the late 14th century, and bloodthirsty or cruel by the 1560s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to stain with blood, is from the 1520s.^(Etymonline) The intensive swear word, chiefly British and Australian, is recorded from 1676;^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013) Green's Dictionary of Slang has a ''bloody thief'' from before 1627.^(GDoS) Partridge, quoted by Etymonline, says it was respectable before about 1750 and used by Dryden, Fielding and Swift,^(Etymonline) but it was strongly tabooed from about 1750 until about 1920;^(Etymonline) Johnson called it very vulgar, and the OED (1887) said respectable people considered it ''a horrid word''.^(Etymonline)^(GDoS) Etymonline and the OED connect it with the ''bloods'', the aristocratic rowdies of the late 17th century, in phrases such as ''bloody drunk'', as drunk as a blood, and Weekley with the purely intensive use of Dutch bloed and German Blut.^(Etymonline)^(GDoS) Green and the New Partridge reject the popular derivation from ''by our Lady''.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013) Its frequency in colonial Australia earned it the name ''the great Australian adjective'' (1894).^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013) Shaw's ''Not bloody likely!'' in ''Pygmalion'' shocked London audiences.^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – of blood; covered in blood.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – involving bloodshed.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1520s – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1560s – bloodthirsty, cruel.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1676 – the intensive.^(Etymonline)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1894 – ''the Australian adjective''.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Covered or stained with [[blood]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Involving much killing and [[bloodshed]]: ''a bloody war''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[cruel|alt=Cruel]] or [[bloodthirsty]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(chiefly British and Australian, slang)'' Used as an [[intensifier]]: ''a bloody fool''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(chiefly British and Australian, slang)'' Very; extremely.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To stain with blood, or make bleed.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bloodily]]

+ * [[bloodiness]]

+ * [[unbloody]]

+ * [[bloody-minded]]

+ * [[bloody flux]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blood]]

+ * [[bleed]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The intensive ''bloody'' was long taboo in British print and was printed as ''b----y''; it is now common in informal speech, though still avoided in polite contexts.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}