Bloody is the adjectival form of blood but may also be used as a swear word or expletive attributive (intensifier) in Britain, Ireland, Canada, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. Nowadays it is considered (by most of the population of these countries) to be a very mild expletive, and unlikely to cause offence in most circles.^{[citation needed]} In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun (called the adjectives subject), giving more information about what the noun or pronoun refers to. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... Look up Profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word expletive is currently used in three senses: syntactic expletives, expletive attributives, and bad language. The word expletive comes from the Latin verb explere, meaning to fill, via expletivus, filling out. It was introduced into English in the seventeenth century to refer to various kinds of padding — the padding... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

Etymology

Some say it may be derived from the phrase "by Our Lady", a sacrilegious invocation of the Virgin Mary. The abbreviated form "By'r Lady" is common in Shakespeare's plays around the turn of the 17th century, and interestingly Jonathan Swift about 100 years later writes both "it grows by'r Lady cold" and "it was bloody hot walking to-day" [1] suggesting that a transition from one to the other could have been under way. Others regard this explanation as dubious. Eric Partridge, in Words, Words, Words (Methuen, 1933), describes this as "phonetically implausible". Geoffrey Hughes in Swearing: A social history of foul language, oaths and profanity in English (Blackwell, 1991), points out that "by my lady" is not an adjective whereas "bloody" is, and suggests that the slang use of the term started with "bloody drunk" meaning "fired up and ready for a fight". Sacrilege is in general the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. ... Saint Mary and Saint Mary the Virgin both redirect here. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and... Eric Honeywood Partridge (February 6, 1894-June 1, 1979) was a noted lexicographer of the English language, and particularly of its slang. ... Methuen & Co Limited is a firm of British publishers, which began publishing in London in 1892. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Geoffrey Hughes as his character Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The name Blackwell can refer to many places, people, and things. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

It has been said, however, that the offensive use of the word first came up during the Wars of Roses when Royalty and nobility that is all those "of the blood" (meaning blue-blooded descendants of Charlemagne) wrought death and the most bloody destruction on England. Elizabeth I is also supposed to have used it when referring to her elder Sister, Mary due to her persecution of Protestants.

Another thought is that it simply comes from a reference to blood, a view that Partridge prefers. However, this overlooks the considerable strength of social and religious pressure in past centuries to avoid profanity. This resulted in the appearance of words that in some cases appear to bear little relation to their source: "Crikey" for "Christ"; "Gee" for "Jesus"; "Heck" for "Hell"; "Gosh" for "God"; "dash", "dang" or "darn" for "damn". These, too, might be considered implausible etymologies if looked at only from the point of view of phonetics. Given the context in which it is used, as well as the evidence of Swift's writing, the possibility that "bloody" is also a minced oath cannot be lightly dismissed. The suggestion that it originated as a reference to Jesus "bleeding" on the cross is compelling for its shock value, callousness and sacrilegious intent, just as the Irish, and those of the diaspora, will exclaim "suffering Jesus" in response to something shocking. Eric Honeywood Partridge (February 6, 1894-June 1, 1979) was a noted lexicographer of the English language, and particularly of its slang. ... This page is about the title, office or what is known in Christian theology as the Divine Person. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... The Inferno redirects here. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... dAmn (deviantART messaging network) is the name of the real-time chat system implemented on deviantART version 4. ... A minced oath, also known as a pseudo-profanity, is an expression based on a profanity which has been altered to reduce or remove the disagreeable or objectionable characteristics of the original expression; for example, gosh used instead of God, darn instead of damn,heck instead of hell and freaking...

Usage

Although in the 1600s the word appeared to be relatively innocuous, after about 1750 the word assumed more profane connotations in the UK and British Empire. Various substitutions were devised to convey the essence of the oath, but with less offence; these included "bleeding", "blinking", "blooming" and "ruddy". Many inventions and institutions are created, including Hans Lippershey with the telescope (1608, used by Galileo the next year), the newspaper Avisa Relation oder Zeitung in Augsburg, and Cornelius Drebbel with the thermostat (1609). ... Events March 2 - Small earthquake in London, England April 4 - Small earthquake in Warrington, England August 23 - Small earthquake in Spalding, England September 30 - Small earthquake in Northampton, England November 16 – Westminster Bridge officially opened Jonas Hanway is the first Englishman to use an umbrella James Gray reveals her sex... Profanity is a word choice or usage which many consider to be offensive. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

On the opening night of George Bernard Shaw's comedy Pygmalion in 1914, Mrs Patrick Campbell, in the role of Eliza Doolittle, created a sensation with the line "Walk! Not bloody likely!" George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. ... Pygmalion is a Greek name, probably going back to Phoenician roots. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mrs. ...

The use of bloody in adult UK broadcasting aroused controversy in the 1960s & 1970s but is now unremarkable (for comparison, in the Harry Potter movies, which are geared towards children, the character Ron says "bloody hell" many times in all the movies). The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ...

Usage outside of the UK

Bloody has always been a very common part of Australian speech and has not been considered profane there for some time. The word was dubbed "the Australian adjective" by The Bulletin on 18 August 1894. One Australian performer has even made it his middle name, to show how Australian he is ^{[citation needed]}, - Kevin Bloody Wilson. In the 1940s an Australian divorce court judge held that "the word bloody is so common in modern parlance that it is not regarded as swearing". Meanwhile, Neville Chamberlain's government was fining Britons for using the word in public. Australian English (AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... The Bulletin is an Australian weekly magazine, which has been published in Sydney since 1880. ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Kevin MOTHER FUCKING Wilson (born Dennis Bryant on 13 February 1947 in Sydney, Australia) is a short, bearded comedy singer/songwriter who uses a heavy Australian accent/style with great success. ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... This article is about the British prime minister. ...

The word as an expletive is seldom used in the USA and Canada, but it is sometimes used to imitate or ridicule the British. The term "bloody murder" (usually in reference to a particularly loud scream or yell) is also in common use, without any connection with the British usage. The term is usually used when the intention is to mimick an Englishman, though there are some who have adopted it from the British as an everyday term.

There is also "Bloody hell", often pronounced "Bloody 'ell," which can mean "Damn it," or be used as a general expression of surprise or as a general intensifier. The Inferno redirects here. ...

In March 2006 Australia's national tourism commission launched an advertising campaign targeted at potential visitors in several English-speaking countries. The ad sparked a surprise controversy because of its ending (in which a cheerful, bikini-wearing female spokesperson delivers the ad's call-to-action by saying "...so where the bloody hell are you?"). Initially, the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) required that a modified version of the ad be shown in the United Kingdom, without the word "bloody". However, in May 2006, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the word "bloody" was not an inappropriate marketing tool and the original version of the ad was permitted to air. An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). ... End of the So where the bloody hell are you? television advert So where the bloody hell are you? is an AU$180 million advertising campaign launched in 2006 by Tourism Australia created by the Sydney office of the London headquartered advertising agency M&C Saatchi. ... The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) is a quango which pre-approves most British television advertising. ... The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent British self regulatory organisation (SRO) of the advertising industry. ...

In Malaysia and to a certain extent Singapore, the word bloody is commonly used as an expletive. One example is "bloody bastard" which has been transformed into a more polite word, "bloody-basket" or "blardi-basket" in Manglish, the colloquial version of the English language as spoken in Malaysia. Other examples include "Wah!! Damn bloody hot!", usually a reference to the unimaginably hot weather in Malaysia, even for the locals.^{[citations needed]} Manglish (or sometimes Malglish or Mangled English) is the colloquial version of the English language as spoken in Malaysia and it is a portmanteau of the word Malay and English (also possibly Mandarin and English). ...

See also

• Bloodclat, one of the worst oaths in Jamaican patois

Jamaican patois for womans sanitary towel, used as a derogatory descriptive term. ... Jamaican Creole, also known as Patois/(Patwa) or simply Jamaican, is an English/African-based language --not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of English-- used primarily on the island of Jamaica. ...

External links

• BBC News: Australian advert banned on UK TV
• Campaign homepage with link to uncut ad
• Limerick that makes reference to the expression "bloody ell"