Definition: To be sad or depressed.
Example: Sandra was feeling blue as George Clooney hadn’t answered a single one of her 337 love letters to him.
Origin:
Feeling blue goes way, way back, first recorded in 1385, and during the intervening centuries, its origin has faded.
There are no shortages of theories though. Here’s a few.
- The blue is referring to that of lifelessness, as in blue lips and skin.
- The blue is referring to rain and storms, reaching even further back, into Greek mythology, where Zeus would make it rain when he was sad.
- The blue is referring to an old naval custom, that of flying blue flags, or painting a blue band along the hull of a ship upon return to its home port if its captain had perished during the last voyage.
