# Blimey!



## Jiung

Hi,

Does the word"blimey" an old usage?
Do people in the UK still use this word? And how do you use it, to express shock?

Thanks!

Jiung


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## Victoria32

Jiung said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> Does the word"blimey" an old usage?
> Do people in the UK still use this word? And how do you use it, to express shock?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Jiung


Yes, it is an old usage (my father used it once or twice, and he'd been very old if he was alive) and yes, it is to express shock...

It comes from "God blind me", truly, but that was literally centuries ago that it arose.


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## Franglais

I write to confirm it is still used. I use it all the time and I know loads of people who do. I suppose I use it when someone is telling a story, and something shocks me. I would say "blimey!" whilst they are still talking...but doing this is not rude, as they know I am listening and am displaying shock at what they say.


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## la reine victoria

It started off as "Gawd blimey", "Gor blimey" or "Cor blimey". = "God blind me!"

Much used by the London Cockneys and widespread throughout London and southern England.  Even further afield one hears it.





LRV


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## la reine victoria

One of my Scottish aunts, who was well-spoken, would often throw in an abbreviated, "Bli" when being told certain news with a shock factor.    She spent many years living in London.





LRV


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## rericri

I found it in Harry Potter too.


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## la reine victoria

rericri said:
			
		

> I found it in Harry Potter too.


 



Blimey!  





LRV


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## tutina

Yes, Im currently reading Harry Potter book 6 (this is the first one that I read in its original language) and they allways use it, all the time... I first though it meant something like Belive me , but it didnt make any sence, now I understand!!!


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## crematoryfire

i have yet to read any of the harry potter books. :-\


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## Matching Mole

It certainly is used, albeit with a certain humour. I use it myself, along with "crikey!" which has the same meaning. It is an exclamation of surprise or to some extent, mild awe, indicating that you are impressed by something.


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## jonquiliser

How funny! Just the other day I heard the expression "Cor blimey" in a film, and decided I should incorporate it immediately into my active vocabulary. The film was centred around people speaking Cockney, it definitely wasn't some archaic usage they portrayed. Seemed quite realistic. Still, can't say I've heard it too many time in real life. Not too many times in this case is never. But then, I might simply not have understood it before... Anyway, I definitely like it


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## zaffy

Jiung said:


> Does the word"blimey" an old usage?





Victoria32 said:


> Yes, it is an old usage



Is it really an old usage in BE? I guess  I come across it every now and then.

Here a dog jumped on this guy's shoulder and he expressed his surprise/anger with "blimey"

Is "bother" stronger than "blimey"? What might an American say not to sound vulgar? "Shoot"?


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## ewie

No, _blimey!_ is alive and well in the UK.
_Bother!_ is used for (mild) annoyance ... or was used ... not sure if anyone says it any more.


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## zaffy

ewie said:


> _Bother!_ is used for (mild) annoyance


But Blimey! also works for mild annoynace, doesn't it?   "Blimey! I forgot to put in petrol in my car."


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## heypresto

_"Blimey! I forgot to put in petrol in my car." _It doesn't quite work here as an exclamation of mild _annoyance_. We'd use something like 'Damn!' or 'Shit!', or something stronger.

But it would work as an expression of _surprise_. 'Blimey! I forgot to put petrol in the car!' implying 'What an idiot I am!'


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> But Blimey! also works for mild annoynace, doesn't it?   "Blimey! I forgot to put in petrol in my car."


No.  That doesn't work. We don't use _Blimey!_ for annoyance or frustration.

_Bugger! I forgot to put petrol in the car!_ is the closest English English for what you're looking for.

To use _Blimey! _in that situation, there would have to be an element of surprise. For example:

_Blimey! I forgot to put petrol in the car, but it still did the whole journey from Little Whinging to Sodding Chipbury without a murmur. There's a lot to be said for a Reliant Robin._

As you can see, the _Blimey! _is used to show how impressed you are that your car managed to do the whole journey on an almost empty tank - not how frustrated you are that you forgot to fill up.


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## Uncle Jack

"Blimey" is quite playful, really. I think we all know it is old fashioned, but many of us use it all the same, generally as an expression of mild surprise or sudden realisation.

"Bother" expresses annoyance, and is still used by people who either don't like using stronger terms, or feel that they cannot use a stronger term in present company, but I expect most people never use it.


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## zaffy

Well, I do realise the language has got a lot stronger. However, if there were kids around or, like them, you were talking to some audience, I guess Blimey! is the best choice, isn't it? And how about AE? What would be the equivalent of that?


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## Hermione Golightly

Hardly anybody uses 'Blimey!' It is not more suitable for children than the obvious 'obscene' exclamations. There are plenty of unobjectionable phrases to use in the presence of children.


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## zaffy

Hermione Golightly said:


> There are plenty of unobjectionable phrases to use in the presence of children.


Would you please give me some example? I thought Blimey! was the weakest swear word, socially acceptable to be used around kids.


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## Hermione Golightly

Well, you thought wrong. I think 'Gosh!' is still used by children. I hear 'Oh my God!' but despite not being religious I don't like it at all. 'Wow!' is probably the most common.


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## Roxxxannne

As for mild suitable-for-children AE expressions, I think "Whoa!" is probably what I would say if my cat jumped up on me suddenly.  It's an all-purpose noise one makes when surprised, not a command to the cat to come to a standstill.  I expect there are differences of opinion among the members of this forum as to how it's spelled.


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> As for mild suitable-for-children AE expressions, I think "Whoa!" is probably what I would say if my cat jumped up on me suddenly. It's an all-purpose noise one makes when surprised, not a command to the cat to come to a standstill. I expect there are differences of opinion among the members of this forum as to how it's spelled.


And how does 'blimey' sound to your AE ears? Kind of funny? Very old-fashioned? Do you use "shoot"?


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## Chasint

zaffy said:


> Is it really an old usage in BE? I guess  I come across it every now and then.
> 
> Here a dog jumped on this guy's shoulder and he expressed his surprise/anger with "blimey"
> 
> Is "bother" stronger than "blimey"? What might an American say not to sound vulgar? "Shoot"?
> 
> ...


There is no anger in Blimey.  It means, "Wow! I wasn't expecting that!"

"Shoot" is a euphemism for, "Shit!"

"blimey" and "shoot" do not have the same meaning.


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## Roxxxannne

zaffy said:


> And how does 'blimey' sound to your AE ears? Kind of funny? Very old-fashioned? Do you use "shoot"?


If a British English speaker said "Blimey," I'd think "Hmm, I didn't know they still said that!"

If an American English speaker said "Blimey," I'd think they were ridiculously affected.  "Blimey" is not at all American.

"Shoot" is, as Chasint says, a euphemism for "Shit," and "Jeez" is a euphemism for "Jesus Christ" but I doubt that a child would make the connection in either case. I wouldn't use either one of those if my cat suddenly jumped up on me.

"Whoa" expresses simple surprise. "Whoa! The recipe calls for two onions, not one.  Good thing we have plenty."

"Shoot" expresses surprise and mild disappointment. "Shoot, I forgot to buy onions. Well, we don't need them tonight. I can get them tomorrow."

I could go on...


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## heypresto

'Blimey!' is an everyday expression for me. Just about every day I see or hear something to which 'blimey!' is my first, and the only appropriate, response.

Alternatives like 'gosh!' and 'oh my god!' and even worse 'OMG!' are not part of my active vocabulary. I might occasionally use them in an ironic sort of way.


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## Wordy McWordface

I also use _Blimey!._  As UJ says, it's playful: we know that it sounds deliberately old-fashioned and a little bit ridiculous. But it fills a gap in a way that nothing else does.  I'm not a 'Wow' or a 'Whoa' kind of person, so _Blimey!_ suits me fine.


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## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> I also use _Blimey!._ As UJ says, it's playful: we know that it sounds deliberately old-fashioned and a little bit ridiculous. But it fills a gap in a way that nothing else does. I'm not a 'Wow' or a 'Whoa' kind of person, so _Blimey!_ suits me fine.


Would you use anythin else if a cat suddenly jumped on you? Of course besides the typical swear words.


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## velisarius

Roxxxannne said:


> If a British English speaker said "Blimey," I'd think "Hmm, I didn't know they still said that!"


I'm always chuffed when I see one or other of our more senior British members using it on this very forum.


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> Would you use anythin else if a cat suddenly jumped on you? Of course besides the typical swear words.


'Goodness me!'


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## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> it sounds a little bit ridiculous.



It means "Let God blind me", that is, "Let God make me blind, doesn't it?


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> It means "Let God blind me", that is, "Let God make me blind, doesn't it?


That is the origin, not the meaning. As we use it today, it doesn't mean anything (other than 'I'm surprised').

By 'ridiculous', I meant silly and old-fashioned:  like a line written for Cockney cleaning lady in an Ealing comedy of the 1950s.


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## Keith Bradford

In Britain it has been more popular over the past 20 years than at any other time since it was invented in the 1880s.  In America it is twenty times rarer.

Source: Google Books Ngram Viewer and its US comparison.


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## Chasint

zaffy said:


> It means "Let God blind me", that is, "Let God make me blind, doesn't it?


I agree with Wordy McWordface. The modern meaning is very different from the old meaning. Originally it comes from an oath such as "I swear to tell the truth. May God blind me if I tell a lie". In your scenario, you can think of it as a mild version of, "May God blind me if I was expecting the dog to jump that high."

There are other stronger indications of surprise.

_Blimey! I wasn't expecting to see a Ferrari Roma driving down the main street of my village!

Jesus! I wasn't expecting the dog to jump on me. That gave me quite a start.

Mary mother of God! I wasn't expecting World War 3!_


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## natkretep

Does anyone know or remember the sitcom from around 1980 _Mind Your Language_? (Wikipedia: Mind Your Language - Wikipedia) It revolves around adult English classes given by Mr Brown to a motley group of students, and the Pakistani Ali, and his catchphrase was 'Oh, blimey!' and 'Jolly good' in his Pakistani accent. And yet it didn't sound false.

I don't use a lot of strong language myself. If a cat jumped on me, I might just say, 'What on earth ...!' or 'Dearie me!'


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## Roxxxannne

Keith Bradford said:


> In Britain it has been more popular over the past 20 years than at any other time since it was invented in the 1880s.  In America it is twenty times rarer.
> 
> Source: Google Books Ngram Viewer and its US comparison.


The ngram viewer for _blimey_ in the US includes things like novels that involve BrE speakers (some of which are written by BrE speakers and published in the US) and discussions of exclamations by linguistics experts.  I looked at about several of them and none was an instance of someone speaking American English_. _So I suspect that it's much less common in American reality than even the ngram suggests.


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## Wordy McWordface

Roxxxannne said:


> The ngram viewer for _blimey_ in the US includes things like novels that involve BrE speakers (some of which are written by BrE speakers and published in the US) and discussions of exclamations by linguistics experts.  I looked at about several of them and none was an instance of someone speaking American English_. _So I suspect that it's much less common in American reality than even the ngram suggests.


I couldn't help noticing that _Blimey_ saw a dip in AmE usage during the years of World War II, but a significant spike in BrE usage during the the same period. Any theories?


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## heypresto

Loads of British soldiers saying "Blimey! Have you noticed how there's been a bit of a dip in the Yanks' usage of 'blimey!' recently?"

Just a thought.


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## Wordy McWordface

heypresto said:


> Loads of British soldiers saying "Blimey! Have you noticed how there's been a bit of a dip in the Yanks' usage of 'blimey!' recently?"
> 
> Just a thought.


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## sound shift

I'm going to be ever so self-centred and quote myself here:


sound shift said:


> Blimey! All those years and I never knew subtitles were available for "Oor Rab" (but I can honestly say that I didn't need them).





sound shift said:


> Blimey, that's more than Stoke City get.





sound shift said:


> Blimey! Is that what his parents paid the school fees for?


Blimey! I didn't know I'd used it that much!


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## ewie

I'm going to quote myself too, from 16/10/2010:


> ewie said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've been doing a sort of on-off study of this lately, having come to the conclusion a while back that no-one says _Blimey!_ any more.  How amazed was I to find that _hordes_ of people still say it ... *including me! *
Click to expand...


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## GraVin

Gordon Bennett. I'll go to the foot of our stairs. Well, did you ever? Stone the crows. Heavens to Betsy. What the hair-oil?


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