# Blood metaphors



## ThomasK

What can blood as a metaphor refer to in your language ?

I once heard that in Old-Slavic _*to reveal*_ is translated as 'to blood out'. It would be truth then...

I do not think we use the word _bloed_ in a metaphorical sense in Dutch. Or mainly as a metaphor for life, I think. Also for cruelty maybe (that is that still a metaphor), where we can make it descriptive (bloedig) or *'connotative'* (_bloed*er*ig_), implying there is a lot of blood involved, too much even.

We do have *'bloedje'*, when referring to a child we feel pity for (quite strange to me, as for the origin). 

_*Bloody*_ in English seems to have lost all reference to blood as such, I think, and implies abhorrence (as with blood, I suppose).

So far it might refer to
- the truth
- life
- a threat to life (blood not being meant to be poured out)
- ... (_bloedje_)


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## OldAvatar

There are a few metaphors regarding to blood in Romanian.
One of the most interesting one, probably of gipsy origin, is the one reffering to courage, bold attitude etc. If you tell someone that _he's got blood_, it means that he's got the courage to do an insane, dangerous thing.

Edit: There is also a weird swearing: _Go to blood_! I guess this one is of gipsy origin, too.


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## ThomasK

Funny with us: _*his blood is boiling *_(he is angry). But that is not so much about blood as such.


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## OldAvatar

_His blood is boiling (in his veins) _*[Îi fierbe sângele în vene]* is a common expression in Romanian too. It means the same thing.


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## dudasd

ThomasK said:


> I once heard that in Old-Slavic _*to reveal*_ is translated as 'to blood out'.


 
For _to reveal_,I can't think of other verb than *otkrit *(od-krit; lit. "to un-cover"), which may seem connected with _*krv *_(_kri _in Slovenian, maybe that's a source of confusion?), but they are in no way connected. So I'd say that piece of information is wrong.

Except common expressions (like "his blood is boiling") existing in other languages, as much as I can notice, in Slavic languages blood has a slightly stronger meaning of family, especially offspring (not only of lineage). For example: *krvni neprijatelj *(Serbian; lit. "blood enemy" = sworn enemy) shows a very high "rank" of enmity, one that will last through generations. Swearing one's blood means swearing his family and children, and it's one of hardest insults.

One of the interesting "blood words" in South Slavic languages could be *krvnik* (executioner) - the one who spills blood.

Expression *udarila mu krv u glavu *(Serbian; lit: "blood hit his head") means that someone became mad/aggressive/violent, because of the old belief that "surplus of blood" (unwasted energy, in fact) can cause strange and violent behaviour.


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## ThomasK

[Uncover/ reveal: I was referring to/ had heard of Old Slavic, maybe even church Slavic]

Bloeddorstig/ *bloodthirsty* is probably what you are referring to: likely to kill people...
The other one: blue blood is used in Dutch - and indeed refers to origin. Interesting is that we would not (not generally) condemn a  whole *blood-line* in general. We seem more... forgiving.

The *surplus (excess...)* of blood: I do not think we have that in Dutch. Interesting !


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## dudasd

ThomasK said:


> Interesting is that we would not (not generally) condemn a whole *blood-line* in general. We seem more... forgiving.


 
Now you just reminded me to an interesting word, though I am not sure it exists in other Slavic languages out of Balkan - *krvarina *was a price that descendans of a family could pay to other family, in case they agreed to accept money and stop the mutual killing. It could be translated as "blood-tax".

For "bloodthirsty", Slavic languages have the same (or very similar) word(s) as German languages; compare Russian *кровожадный*, Serbian/Croatian *krvožedan *(lit. "blood thirsty") or *krvoločan *(lit: the one who laps/drinks blood).


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## ThomasK

This is strange. Have we ever been cannibals ? Drunk blood like the Masai ? Just a powerful metaphor, I guess, as we might also say that we could *drink someone's blood* if we are really 'mad' with anger...


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## Outsider

One that comes to my mind in Portuguese is *sangue-frio, literally "cold blood"*. It means cool-headedness, careful thinking in the face of distressing circumstances. I think this idiom also exists in French, *sang-froid*, and probably in Spanish, too.

We also have the phrase *assassínio/assassinato a sangue frio, "murder in cold blood"*, like in English. Maybe the two expressions are related.


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## ThomasK

Indeed, we have it as well. The funny thing is that adrenaline seems linked with blood temperature !!!


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## Mahaodeh

There are some expressions in Arabic; you would say that one has "_heavy *blood*_" meaning that he is not a pleasant and agreeable person; one has "_light *blood*_" when he is cheerful and funny. One has "_cold *blood*_" when he is insensetive and "_hot *blood*_" when he is easliy angered or irritated. You would say that "_his *blood* went up to his head_" if he got very angry about something and wants to take action, and you would say "_his *blood* dried out_" if he got very scared or shocked. You would describe someone as "_having no *blood*_" if he is rude and shameless and one "_has *blood*_" if he is respectful and courtious. You say his "_*blood* is burnt_" if he feels very frustrated or angry about something he is zealous about or something he cares very much for.

A borrowing from English (I think) is to refer to your family as your "_flesh and *blood*_".


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## ThomasK

It reminds me of the time when humours were considered physical substances in blood (I may be a little imprecise). The state of one's blood seemed to be related with or even causing a particular mood. Psychosomatics to the full ?


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## Mahaodeh

I think that some relate to the colour of the face, when one is scared his face turns pale, hence the phrase "his blood dried out"; when he is angry his cheeks, ears, neck and sometimes even eyes turn red, hence "the blood went up to his head"; when one is shy his cheeks become rosey, hence a shameful and repecful person "has blood" and a shameless one "does not have blood".

I forgot another one, when one feels jealous, zealous or angry, one would say "my blood is boiling"; it probably comes from the fact that one feels hot when angry or jealous, I think that, accordingly, one's blood would be burnt if things turn wrong (disapointment, sorrow, and frustration) since the "boiling" part is over with no positive outcome. Example, one's blood would boil (he is jelouse, angry and zealous) when he finds out his partner might be cheating on him/her; it is burnt when he finds out that this is true while the expression "cold water was poured on his chest/heart/head" is used when he finds out that it is not true.

However, I don't know where the expression "heavy blood" and "light blood" came from. A more formal expression, mostly used in writing and MSA is to say "heavy and light shadow", while a more collequal one is "heavy and light on the stomach" (as in, he is so unagreeable he causes indigestion). My guess that this one is more related to the "weight" than it is to the blood. One may also describe a cheerful and likable person as "light" and the opposite as "heavy" alone without indicate what in him/her is light or heavy.


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## Mahaodeh

ThomasK said:


> This is strange. Have we ever been cannibals ? Drunk blood like the Masai ? Just a powerful metaphor, I guess, as we might also say that we could *drink someone's blood* if we are really 'mad' with anger...


 
This expression is also borrowed into Arabic, also "he has blood on his hands". Maybe it was made popular due to the media or something. I don't think it has anything to do with cannibalism, but it may come from watching animals - if you anger a wolf or a dog, as an example, it might bite and kill you and when the animal raises his head the face (and paws) would be covered with blood as if it was drinking the blood. Well, just a theory.


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## Nanon

Outsider said:


> One that comes to my mind in Portuguese is *sangue-frio, literally "cold blood"*. It means cool-headedness, careful thinking in the face of distressing circumstances. I think this idiom also exists in French, *sang-froid*, and probably in Spanish, too.
> 
> We also have the phrase *assassínio/assassinato a sangue frio, "murder in cold blood"*, like in English. Maybe the two expressions are related.


 
Certainly, Out. Spanish has "sangre fría" and the most frequent is "matar a sangre fría", like in your second example.

In French, you would say "Mon sang n'a fait qu'un tour", i.e. literally "My blood did only one turn" (it circulates only once) when your hearts misses a beat because you are really upset.

Also, "blue blood" is supposed to denote nobility in many languages. Funny, because venous blood that looks "blue" as compared to arterial blood is loaded with impurities...


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## Zsanna

I can see four main groups of "special meaning" (so apart from those which are really connected to the fluid itself) around the word blood in Hungarian:

1) connected to life (strength)/ "ready to act"/ "courage" - 
*vérvörös* "blood red" = a special colour but also very intensive, full of energy

2) "authentic"/"to the core"/"intensive"/describing one's "innermost" character/ soul/ traits and temperament 
*vérbeli* "from the blood" = like "a born" artist (= vérbeli művész)
*valakinek a vérévé válik valami* "something becomes the blood in sombedy" = somebody learns/gets used to/"acquires" something so well that it becomes part of him (like if you lie too often, you may get used to it so much that you'll lie even when you don't have a reason, don't want to)
*könnyű vérű* "light blooded" = said esp. a woman who takes/goes off with one man after the other (without moral or otherwise "measuring"...)
*forró*/ *hideg vérű* "hot/cold booded" = temperamental/ calm, sober, level-headed

3) tribe, origins, family (referring to "real" family connection or one obtained by a *blood contract* - vérszerződés - when all the participants wishing to conlcude such a pact drip some of their blood in a recipient and in the end they all have a sip - such bond could only be "undone" by death)
*vérrokon* blood relation (somebody from the family)
*vértestvér* "blood brother" - I think this one was specially used for someone who became a "brother" after the blood contract)

4) connected to death/leading to death
*vérre megy* "goes to blood"= fight until death/attack in order to kill
*vérbosszú *"blood revenge"= revenge ending with the death of the one attacked
*vérfürdő* "blood bath" = (like in English) e.g. fight ending with a lot of dead
*vérpad* "blood bench" = scaffold (place of execution)
*véres kezű* "bloody handed" = a merciless, more, a *vérszomjas* "blood thirsty" person who'd killed a lot of people and who is likely to kill more
*vérszopó* "blood sucking" (word by word or metaphorically, then an extortioner)

I would think the two most important aspects in all this are *life* and *death*. 
And it is logical if you think how in the old times blood was connected to life and to the soul (as long as you have blood in you, you're alive, the sure sign of an animal being dead is when it lost all its blood). 
I wonder if the kosher and halal way of killing of animals (making sure that no blood is left in them) was not really connected to that...


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## ThomasK

[These Hungarian answers are always so very much to the point !]

I recognize most of them as for Dutch 
 - origins
 - temperament
 - life and death _(we do not know light-blooded women, though, only light-hearted, and that does not constitute a problem in any sense, or warm-blooded (however, if we call them 'hot', then... - but we do not refer to their blood) (as for the artists they are artists in heart and kidneys) _
 - courage -- but is that separate ? 

I could not imagine one extra for the time being !

 -


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## Zsanna

ThomasK said:


> [These Hungarian answers are always so very much to the point !]


 
Thank you Jan, I wish I managed to compress them to be shorter, too! 



ThomasK said:


> - courage -- but is that separate ?


 
No, I'd say it's really part of the meaning around "life" in our reading because it's something needed for life: to have the energy, courage to confront things...
There is a saying that starts off "S/he has blood in her/his ..." (meaning x has the courage to do sg) but I'm not sure about the last word (there is a colloquial one with a euphemistic reference to female genitals, I think, but I was looking for the original) and I could not think of another example yet...


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## ThomasK

Then, this part of the meaning is new to me. We will say he has the 'lef' (could that be the Hebrew word for 'heart', 'lev' ?) or the guts (aren't those the bowels ?) to do that - but we do not need blood for that (only 'enough cold blood' to do it well). ;-)

[Keep it dense and large, we can always try to compress, condense, afterwards whatever !]


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## javier8907

Zsanna said:


> .
> There is a saying that starts off "S/he has blood in her/his ..." (meaning x has the courage to do sg) but I'm not sure about the last word (there is a colloquial one with a euphemistic reference to female genitals, I think, but I was looking for the original) and I could not think of another example yet...



Well, in Spanish we just say "he/she has got (testicles, but in a colloquial manner)" to say the same.

As for blood, I can think of a few metaphors now.

For example, to say *"he/she has got blood in his/her veins"* means that person will get indignant when they have reasons for it, while *"he/she hasn't got..."* means that however much bad somebody else does to them they won't get angry, or won't get anything about it.

*"Blood"* is also used as a metaphor for "energy". If we say somebody has blood, we mean that it's an energetic person, always moving quickly, whereas if we say that somebody has little blood we mean they're weak?, thy move very little and do it slowly, as if it required a huge effort.

We use the word "blood" as a metonym for *genetical heritage,* and of lineage too -although as this latter is not a very common conversation topic, I'd say it's rather falling out of use. There is an expression, literally *"have something in one's blood"* (llevar/tener algo en la sangre), for example *"I've got painting in my blood/painting is in my blood -runs through my veins-"* (llevo la pintura en la sangre) which means that it is connatural to you.

The "flesh and blood" reminds me of *"flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood"*, which does exist in Spanish as *"carne de mi carne y sangre de mi sangre"* (yet I can't imagine it used but for mourning a son or for humoristic purposes) and I always thought it was biblical reference.

We also have "blue blood" (sangre azul), "my blood is boiling" (me hierve la sangre), and more I can't think of now.


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## ThomasK

Don't you think the 'energy' refers to temperament (see Zsanna, #2).

So far I think we have not yet new meanings to Zsanna's list... But I could imagine a lot of these meanings are universal (as the function/... of blood is universal). Still, just wondering whether something new could still come up...


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## Zsanna

Oh, it's interesting how close I feel the Spanish examples - even if we don't always have an exact match for the expressions used!

Reading about "energy" I remembered that the English term "fresh (new?) blood" could be connected to it.

I remembered another shade of "blood" in Hungarian. We have an expression: "sg gives birth to bad blood" (_rossz vért szü_l) meaning that an action will produce/bring about ("cause") bad *consequencies.* 

I was thinking whether it could be part of the "family, relations" group but it's not obvious. However, I left out a really "banal" (but here interesting) word from that category: _testvér_. It is a word that can mean either brother or sister and it consists of _test_ (= body) + _vér_ (= blood).


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## javier8907

ThomasK said:


> Don't you think the 'energy' refers to temperament (see Zsanna, #2).



No, it's not temperament, that's "tener sangre en las venas". I said "energy" because I couldn't find a closer English word to that concept than "energetic", when referred to a person. It has to do with moving, with doing things vitally rather than indolently.

I wanted to add that another similar idiom than "having little blood"; "having horchata for blood" (tener sangre de horchata). It's not quite different, but I thought it was curious (if you don't know what "horchata" is, you can look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horchata).

I remember now the phrase "mala sangre" (lit. "bad blood"), which means "bad humour". The idiom might be "hacer mala sangre" ("to make bad blood", that is, to get angry), as I can't think of another verb that fits here.

And, of course, I shouldn't forget the well-known "sangría".


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## Juri

Blood metaphors are too many in Italian also.
_Sangue freddo_(cold b.) has a person who is calm, imperturbable.
I mammiferi hanno il _sangue caldo_.Mammals have warm blood.
Gli e' salito il _sangue alla testa_.Blood hit in his head.
Farsi _cattivo sangue_.To get angry.
Il riso fa _buon sangue._Laughter makes blood good.
Killer _assetato di sangue_.Bloodthirsty killer.
Volere _cavar sangue_ da una rapa.To try to get blood from a turnip.
_Sputare sangue_ Spit blood=make a heavy effort.


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## ThomasK

Blood as a metaphor for life, I would think then (but blood with the _mammiferi_ is literal, I think, referring to actual blood temperatures, as compared to reptiles -but I am not a biologist...). 

I reminds me of humours, also considered 'juices' once. I make a wild guess and suggest that the link with a fluid like water reminded people of the vital forces of blood. But I do not mind you proving I am wrong or suggesting another explanation !


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