Re: Varon
| From: | Roger Mills <romilly@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, January 20, 2002, 16:53 |
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Nik Taylor wrote:
>Could you give an example? I don't think I've ever heard "to blue".
>
In one of Noel Coward's funnier but seldom-heard songs, there's a use of "to
blue" that apparently means 'to run through all one's money' or perhaps 'to
suffer/cause? a financial scandal' (probably posh slang, given the
context)--
_Imagine the Duchess's Feelings_
"Just imagine the Duchess's feelings--
you could have pierced her with swords--
When she discovered her youngest, like Lenin,
Had sold the Daily Worker near the House of Lords....
Her eldest son went to Boodle's and White's [upper-class clubs]
Her second son blued everything and fled--
But imagine the Duchess's feelings,
When her youngest son went Red."
I don't think I was mis-hearing "blew", which is US usage. I think I've
encountered this use of "blue"in, perhaps, Evelyn Waugh.
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