Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection UK, Australia, New Zealand, mildly vulgar An expression of dismay, disgust, anger, surprise etc.
  • interjection UK, Australia, New Zealand, mildly vulgar placed before a verb to add emphasis to a sentence.

Etymologies

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Examples

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Comments

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  • "Football - bloody hell!"

    - Alex Ferguson.

    October 21, 2007

  • As seen in the Australian tourism ad So where the bloody hell are ya?

    Incidentally, the pub shown in the first shot of that ad is just out of my town. But the Mad Max car isn't there, for some reason :(

    April 26, 2008

  • Wait, wait, it's the first time I've seen this ad. She says 'So where the bloody are you?', not '... are ya'. It's very clear.

    That's it, passport in the shredder tomorrow.

    April 26, 2008

  • Yeah, she does. But I like to pretend I hear "ya" instead, otherwise I cringe so hard my glasses fall off.

    April 26, 2008

  • What I don't get is how rude this expression is. Is it offensive?

    April 26, 2008

  • I don't find it offensive, and I don't honestly think most people would these days, but I think it's frowned upon in formal/polite settings out of habit.

    April 26, 2008

  • I don't find it offensive, and I don't think anyone I know does either. Though that might say something about the company I keep.

    April 27, 2008

  • "Bloody" used to be extremely offensive (not really in the United States--we seem to think it quaintly foreign), but that was generations ago. (When it was replaced in movies with people saying "ruddy" instead.)

    Seriously, I think some older people of British, Australian, or Canadian extraction still find it to be so.

    The "hell" part--yeah, there are lots of polite circles (in the U.S. also) that would frown on the use of "hell" when not referring to the reputedly fiery place with a landlord of decidedly odd shape and reddish color.

    Edit: Basically agreeing with plethora... who was far more succinct...

    April 27, 2008

  • Isn't the "bloody" a reference to the blood Christ shed during his crucifixion? I understood "bloody" to be derived from phrases like "bleeding Christ".

    Swearing by the blood of a dying person, especially the Divine, is understandably quite offensive to a Christian, or even any opponent of capital punishment.

    April 27, 2008

  • Cricketer Max Walker was introduced to the Queen after an Australia-England match where she had been guest of honour.

    Queen: So how was your game, sir?

    Walker: Bloody hot out there today, Your Highness.

    April 27, 2008