scream blue murder
Meaning: To protest very loudly.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The toddler screamed blue murder when we took the phone away.”
Category: The Absurd
Origin: "Blue" as an intensifier; the phrase may play on the French oath "morbleu." It is recorded from the 19th century. Americans also say "bloody murder."
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Pousser des cris d'orfraie — literally: To shriek like an osprey
More idioms — The Absurd
- a Procrustean bed — A rigid standard forced on everything, whatever the damage.
- a Sisyphean task — An endless, futile task.
- Captain Obvious — A mocking name for someone who states the obvious.
- diddly-squat — Nothing at all.
- a fat lot of good that does me — That is of no use to me at all.
- what have you been smoking? — Said to someone whose idea sounds crazy.
More English idioms
- send someone packing — To dismiss someone abruptly.
- money burns a hole in someone's pocket — Someone cannot keep money without spending it.
- jump through hoops — To go through many difficult or pointless steps to get something.
- a parting shot — A final sharp remark made while leaving.
- grease someone's palm — To bribe someone.
- set the record straight — To correct a mistaken account or misunderstanding.
From our proverbs
- Between two stools he comes to the ground. — Trying to sit on two stools simultaneously leaves you falling between them, unsupported a…
- He must stoop that hath a low door. — Adapting yourself to constraints, however humble, requires humility and flexibility rathe…
- After a storm comes a calm. — Hardship is temporary; peaceful periods naturally follow difficult ones.