Feb 22, 2009 17:15
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
bloomin' well off again
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
a british man goes to an institute for mentally disturbed women. while looking for some acquaintance, escorted by a lady in charge, he hears a voice:
"Then someone started to wail loudly somewehere in the building behind me, and curiously, this had the effect of putting the women at their ease. One wiry-headed lady nearby grinned at me and said, 'Don't you worry, love, it's only Martha. She's bloomin well off again!'..."
"Then someone started to wail loudly somewehere in the building behind me, and curiously, this had the effect of putting the women at their ease. One wiry-headed lady nearby grinned at me and said, 'Don't you worry, love, it's only Martha. She's bloomin well off again!'..."
Responses
| 4 +10 | it's just Martha making her usual racket |
Mark Nathan
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| 3 | she's started wailing in a mad fit again |
Patricia Townshend (X)
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Responses
+10
9 mins
Selected
it's just Martha making her usual racket
Bloomin' is short for blooming.
"She's blooming well..." is a milder form of "she's bloody well...", i.e. it is a mild expletive. As in "Bloomin' heck, Martha's at it again!".
"To be off again" = "To start saying/shouting something again". As in, "Don't mention the war, you'll set him off again."
The women are at ease beacuse Marth'a wailing is a familiar sound.
"She's blooming well..." is a milder form of "she's bloody well...", i.e. it is a mild expletive. As in "Bloomin' heck, Martha's at it again!".
"To be off again" = "To start saying/shouting something again". As in, "Don't mention the war, you'll set him off again."
The women are at ease beacuse Marth'a wailing is a familiar sound.
Peer comment(s):
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Tina Vonhof (X)
: Good explanations.
1 hr
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Gunilla Zedigh
1 hr
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Adela Porumbel
2 hrs
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Jeanette Phillips
3 hrs
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Rachel Fell
5 hrs
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Gary D
6 hrs
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Phong Le
6 hrs
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AniseK
12 hrs
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B D Finch
: It also suggests that the speaker is a Londoner, or at least from SE England.
20 hrs
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You're bloomin' well right there luv!
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Alexandra Taggart
: Blooming good explaination!
1 day 1 hr
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "thanks!"
5 mins
Patricia Townshend (X)
South Africa
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Related KudoZ points
:
36
she's started wailing in a mad fit again
The woman has started off on one of her mad fits of wailing. "bloomin' well" is a mild swear expression. Clearly no one is particularly worried about it.
Discussion
Correct parsing: "bloomin' well / off again" - not "bloomin' / well off again"!
Being "well off" means someone is wealthy.
In the text, "Blooming well off again", means someone has; gone off the deep end / out of control /off their tree / spat the dummy/ chucked a fit / having a pissy fit.
But Blooming well off is not used too often, in fact I may have only heard it once before.
Normally the expression is: "she has blooming (bloody) gone off again".
Blooming is one of those words you use for political correctness, same if when something goes wrong, and you went to say "Ah Shi*", and there was a lady around. instead you would say " Ah sugar"
I know from teaching ESL, having all the alternatives helps next time.