Bloody originally was a contraction of by Our Lady. Hence being regarded as blasphemous or nearly. Especially in a country like England where before the Reformation, devotion to Our Lady was particularly popular.
I don't mind "hi"; it's the "hey" I find objectionable.
“Hey” is very normal in my pasty of the world (the American South), and would generally be heard as friendlier than “hi.”
That said, I wouldn’t use it in an email to someone I don’t know and am addressing by their surname. Nor world I use “hi” in those circumstances. (But then, I rarely say “hi” under any circumstances.)
Bloody originally was a contraction of by Our Lady. Hence being regarded as blasphemous or nearly. Especially in a country like England where before the Reformation, devotion to Our Lady was particularly popular.
I can't cite chapter and verse, but I have heard that challenged.
'Bloody' is very mild now but it was regarded as a fairly strong expletive when I was growing. I remember teachers clamping down on its use at school.
I knew a British preacher who was introduced to an American congregation during his first visit to the States as 'a bloody good preacher.'
His host had heard people using it in British films and seen it in books but hadn't realised it was a swear-word (cuss-word in US English).
He thought it was simply a way of emphasising something - which indeed it is of course - as in 'very good' or 'really good.'
Apparently, during The Hundred Years War the French referred to the English as the 'Goddam' because of their prolific use of that phrase. Interestingly, that sounds very American to contemporary Brits.
Some years ago, I remember a letter in The Guardian from a fella who'd been with his wife on holiday to France and overhead some local youths speculating as to his country of origin. 'Il est Allemagne ... Belgique ...' until finally one piped up, 'Non, il est un Fuck Off.'
I am 60 year Canadian university student services professional and lecturer. This morning a student I have never met sent me an email with the following salutation "Hey Dr. Misspelled last name". ( I'm not a doctor and the proper spelling of my last name is clear in my email address.) Are those on the other side of the Pond receiving communications from young people that start with "hey" or is this more common on my side of the pond?
I get a lot of "Hi" and "Hey" from the youngsters. They seem to use both words interchangeably.
As to “hey”; very seldom used in Oz. My late granny hated it and would respond: “That’s what the horse ate”. 60 years ago the use of “bloody” in a parent’s hearing would have earned a clip over the ear, now would not even be regarded as unseemly language.
A kids’ rhyme I heard in the early 60s ran thus:
Bloody in the Bible/ bloody in the book/ if you don’t believe me/ take a bloody look
The clue as to the sense in which the word is used would be the empnasis and intonationwith which it was pronounced. Thus in the Orkney rhyme: 'The BLOODY rain Is BLOODY cold' etc.
I’m ok with ‘hi’. Most of my online interactions with students is via Teams chat & both I and they tend to open with this. Never noticed a ‘hey’.
I did once have words with a student who referred to me as ‘hun’ which is a common local colloquism but not appropriate in an academic setting!
Comments
They call me hey
They call me yo
They call me hi
And all the same
That’s not my name
That’s not my name
…
(after The Ting Tings song)
Actually, I don’t really mind - it’s great when they contact me for advice about their learning (especially if it is someone on my mental worry list).
That said, I wouldn’t use it in an email to someone I don’t know and am addressing by their surname. Nor world I use “hi” in those circumstances. (But then, I rarely say “hi” under any circumstances.)
I can't cite chapter and verse, but I have heard that challenged.
'Bloody' is very mild now but it was regarded as a fairly strong expletive when I was growing. I remember teachers clamping down on its use at school.
I knew a British preacher who was introduced to an American congregation during his first visit to the States as 'a bloody good preacher.'
His host had heard people using it in British films and seen it in books but hadn't realised it was a swear-word (cuss-word in US English).
He thought it was simply a way of emphasising something - which indeed it is of course - as in 'very good' or 'really good.'
Apparently, during The Hundred Years War the French referred to the English as the 'Goddam' because of their prolific use of that phrase. Interestingly, that sounds very American to contemporary Brits.
Some years ago, I remember a letter in The Guardian from a fella who'd been with his wife on holiday to France and overhead some local youths speculating as to his country of origin. 'Il est Allemagne ... Belgique ...' until finally one piped up, 'Non, il est un Fuck Off.'
I get a lot of "Hi" and "Hey" from the youngsters. They seem to use both words interchangeably.
I’m really not sure what I typed to get that autocorrection.
Meanwhile, the Online Etymology Dictionary on bloody.
A kids’ rhyme I heard in the early 60s ran thus:
Bloody in the Bible/ bloody in the book/ if you don’t believe me/ take a bloody look
How usage does change.
I did once have words with a student who referred to me as ‘hun’ which is a common local colloquism but not appropriate in an academic setting!