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A.Word.A.Day--blimey

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: words formed by contraction.

blimey (BLY-mee) interjection

An expression of surprise, dismay, etc.

[Contraction of "blind me" or "blame me", from "God blind/blame me"; sometimes heard in the form gorblimey or corblimey.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

Other examples of similar euphemistic contractions, mostly out of use, are:
Strewth: God's truth
'sblood: God's blood
Lassy me: Lord save me

"And blimey, if Rupert Grint doesn't storm the barricades of boyishness to find something emergent, touching and vital in Ron Weasley."
Peter Travers; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Rolling Stone (New York); Jun 29, 2007.

X-Bonus

War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it. -Desiderius Erasmus, humanist and theologian (1466-1536)

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