Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/27

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Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: BE NICE!
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 10:25:06 -0500

At 08:48 AM 11/27/2000 -0500, Simon Stevens wrote:
>My understanding is that bloody is a corruption of "by our lady" - i.e.
>refering to the Virgin Mary. The derivation, and connotation (which has
>largely been lost anyway) are therefore completely different.
>

This is a mythical back-formation.  All lexicographers seem united in
simply saying that the derivation is from, well, "bloody" - just the use of
an unseemly concept as a mild expletive.

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!