blueyadj.n.
/ˈbluːi/, U.S. /ˈblui/ A. adj.
Somewhat blue; bluish.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [adjective] > bluish
bluisha1398
perse-blue1414
azury1600
bluey1727
blue-bleak1877
1727 W. Pattison Poet. Wks. I. 57 Around my Sight a sudden Dimness play'd, And ting'd the Taper with a blewy Shade.
1789 J. Oswald Poems 64 Extinguish'd stars! whose bluey blaze of joy Shall kindle transport in her breast no more!
1830 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 28 26 Pale bluey bodies.
1881 Academy 16 Apr. 288/1 A very delicate bluey iridescence is obtained.
1919 R. Firbank Valmouth ii. 14 In the bluey twilight as seen from the fields.
1954 A. Ginsberg Let. 19 Feb. in J. Kerouac & A. Ginsberg Lett. (2010) 208 Or go walking midday naked up a mile of rocky clear stream, bluey sky, [etc.].
2001 R. Flanagan Gould's Bk. of Fish 273 I got up a bluey hue from some ultramarine pigment.
B. n.
1. slang. Lead (cf. blue pigeon n. 2a). Recorded earliest in bluey-hunter n. at Compounds 1.Occasionally also: a woman employed to carry lead (see quot. 1897).
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the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > lead > [noun]
leadc900
bluey1851
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > metalworker > [noun] > workers with lead
bluey1897
chamber man1921
1851 H. Mayhew 1851 x. 99 The bone-grubbers, and the rag-gatherers—the ‘bluey-hunters’, or juvenile purloiners of lead—the bottle collectors, [etc.].
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 9 Bluey, lead.
1897 R. H. Sherard White Slaves of Eng. v. 188 When the lead is cold, it is carried by the blue-bed women to the stack-house... They are called blue-bed women because after the molten lead has cooled in the moulds it assumes a bluish hue. The blueys can sometimes earn two shillings a day.
1909 H. Begbie Twice-born Men viii. 196 To steal the ‘bluey’ was not always easy, to store it quickly away was sometimes a job, but to carry it undetected..—this was heroic work.
1962 B. Behan Brendan Behan's Island 100 There'll be nearly a 'alf ton of bluey in that alone.
1989 J. Morton Low Speak 28/1 Bluey, lead, particularly from church roofs.
2. Australian and New Zealand.
a. A collection of personal belongings rolled in a blanket and carried by a bushman or swagman while travelling; = swag n.1 10. Earliest in to hump (one's, the) bluey at Phrases.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag
cloak-bagc1540
mallet1612
Peter1667
sac de nuit1814
carpet-bag1830
roll-up1831
pikau1836
travelling bag1838
swag1853
suit bag1869
bluey1878
Matilda1889
shiralee1892
port1898
handgrip1915
sea-bag1918
blanket pack1920
weekender1929
valpack1934
weekend bag1946
swag bag1951
1878 Squatter's Plum 42 Let him [sc. the Minister] arm himself with a billy, and ‘hump bluey’ incognito in search of work.
1884 Waikato Times (Hamilton, N.Z.) 31 May (Suppl.) The weary swagman knew that here his ‘bluey’ might be laid down for a week.
1911 W. R. Reynolds Poo-bah of Pacific 2 [He declared] that for two pins he would pick up his ‘bluie’ and clear out.
1942 Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Apr. 13/4 The knight of the road mournfully thudded his bluey down and peered wistfully over the fence.
1981 G. Cross George & Widda-Woman 10 A swaggie suddenly appearing out of the bush, unshaven, with wild, haunted eyes, his bluey and billycan on his back.
2008 Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 17 May 12 An unqualified immigrant drifting around outback Australia with his bluey.
b. A blanket; esp. a blue blanket used to roll a bluey (sense B. 2a). Now rare.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > household linen > bedclothes > [noun] > blanket > types of blanket
mantlec1300
fustian1424
Witney1716
rose blanket1759
under-blanket1819
Afghan1850
bluey1886
receiving blanket1891
electric blanket1893
Wagga rug1900
suggan1907
overblanket1970
1886 S. Austral. Advertiser 21 Oct. 5/5 Of blankets there was a great variety, from the orthodox ‘bluey’ down to the spotless white article.
1906 N.Z. Truth 26 May 7 We are told..that each carried his swag of provisions, with the necessary ‘bluey’ and ‘matilda’.
1941 S. Campion Mo Burdekin vii. 209 To bed they went, wrapped..in their blueys.
1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 43 The shooter walked fifteen or twenty miles carrying his swag, had a few at the pub, then found somewhere to roll his bluey.
3. Australian colloquial.
a. A blue cattle dog; spec. a blue heeler.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > sheepdog > [noun] > Australian cattle-dog
cattle-dog1878
bluey1879
blue heeler1900
Queensland heeler1905
Australian cattle-dog1926
Queensland blue heeler1956
1879 Brisbane Courier 30 July 5/7 Each boing a perfect specimen of its type—one a pure collie, and the other a genuine ‘bluey’.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 13 Sept. 21/1 The third [dog] was a common little bluey I bought..as a pup.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. iii. 73 The bluey is a type of cattle dog: originally a cross of the smooth-haired Scotch sheep dog and the dingo.
1996 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 21 Oct. 26/4 Strait was the proud owner of a famous bluey called Buster who appeared on his album covers.
b. Any of various blue animals.
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1903 Bulletin (Sydney) 31 Jan. 36/1 We had no knowledge of scientific terms. To us they were..bluies, diamonds, big and little silver-eyes.
1912 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Aug. 13/1 Have no fear of the lick of the blue-tongued lizard. Have seen a terrier's ear torn in three strips by a bite from ‘bluey’ with no ill-effects.
1961 Bulletin (Sydney) 31 May 35/3 We call them blue martins... Ornithologists refer to them as some species of wood swallow... They're all ‘blueys’ to us.
1979 S. W. Duthie Fidlers Creek 32 We get..red mullet, a bluey, a couple of flounder.
2004 L. Cvetkovic War not Season for Figs 17 On Moongalba lorikeets and bluies flicker in paperbarks, dip their beaks into flowers.
4. Australian (originally Tasmania). A hard-wearing woollen outer garment, now usually a jacket or coat, typically grey-blue in colour. Also: the material from which this is made. Frequently in Tasmanian bluey.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > other
kirtlec893
viteroke?c1225
bleauntc1314
surcoata1330
paltock1353
courtepy1362
tunicle1377
gipona1387
juponc1400
petticoatc1425
wardecorpsc1440
placard1483
galbart1488
corsletc1500
truss1563
gippo1617
juste-au-corps1656
fore-belly1663
vest1666
justicoat1669
coat1670
amiculum1722
arba kanfot1738
slip1762
hap-warm1773
aba1792
Moldave1800
abaya1810
saya1811
tzitzit1816
cote-hardie1834
tobe1835
yelek1836
panties1845
cyclas1846
exomis1850
himation1850
jumper1853
blouse1861
peplum1866
exomion1875
confection1885
lammy1886
surquayne1887
bluey1888
fatigue-blouse1890
sling-jacket1900
top1902
sun top1934
sillapak1942
tank top1949
ao dai1961
tank1985
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for coats, cloaks, or shawls
coating1802
shawlingc1806
Petersham1812
cloaking1840
frocking1864
overcoating1865
ulstering1888
pink1889
mantling1893
covert cloth1895
coat-facing1900
covert coating1900
bluey1934
1888 Launceston (Tasmania) Examiner 22 Nov. So, donning a second-hand bluey, and fortified with a good stick.., we made a start.
1891 W. Tilley Wild West Tasmania 29 Miners, with their swags, surveyors in their ‘blueys’.
1899 Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Feb. The Tasmanian Bluey is a rough overcoat of blue-grey,..never seen by the writer in any other part of Australasia.
1920 B. Cronin Timber Wolves xxiv. 343 Sollum did not answer. He seemed to be having difficulty with the buttons of his bluey overcoat.
1934 T. Wood Cobbers 86 A seamless coat of ‘Tasmanian bluey’, cut low round the neck and under the arms.
1982 Canberra Times 19 Nov. 3/3 A coat known as a Tasmanian Bluey, to be worn for those doing outdoor work during inclement weather.
2005 P. Temple Broken Shore (2008) 4 ‘Take off your coat.’.. The man folded his bluey, put it down on his swag, at his feet.
5. Australian and New Zealand colloquial. (A nickname for) a person with red hair, esp. a man or boy; = blue n. 21. Also attributive, designating such a person.
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the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [noun] > red > person having
redhead1510
ginger1823
Titian1839
bricktop1841
rufus1846
sorrel-top1863
ginger nob1878
coppernob1880
bluey1892
ginge1911
ranga2003
1892 Fanny Flukem's Ball (c1927) Fat Mag sailed down from Crown Street, with little flat-foot Poll, and..Bluey Murphy's doll.
1906 Truth (Sydney) 28 Oct. 9/4 The Perilous Adventure of Red-headed ‘Bluey’.
1936 A. B. Paterson Shearer's Colt 123 ‘Bluey’, as the crowd called him, had found another winner.
1962 P. White Season at Sarsparilla in Four Plays (1965) 173 Nola... Ugh, I don't like the red, freckly men!.. Ern. Don't go much on the blueys meself.
1966 P. White Solid Mandala ii. 147 Seen 'er making through the scrub with that bluey nut Arthur Brown.
1978 R. H. Conquest Dusty Distances 32 I found out later that he was a native of New South Wales, called ‘Bluey’ because of his red hair.
2010 Cairns (Austral.) Post (Nexis) 26 May (Sport section) 57 The flame-haired Southern, dubbed ‘Bluey’, had carved out a cult following since his 2004 first-grade debut.
6.
a. Australian and New Zealand colloquial. A summons to appear in court. Also: an official notice of any offence; a ticket. Cf. blue n. 22.
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society > law > administration of justice > process, writ, warrant, or order > [noun] > summons
citationc1325
summonancec1410
process1423
summons1429
summonitionc1455
venire facias1463
letters citatory1465
summonda1500
interpellation1579
butterfly1583
exploit1622
monition1649
cital1760
venire1763
exaction1816
assignation1884
blister1903
bluey1909
blue1939
1909 T. H. Thompson Ballads about Business 13 I'll show you walls papered with blueys.
1942 2nd N.Z. Expeditionary Force Times 16 Mar. 6/5 That speed cop, who gave me my last bluey on point duty.
1951 J. Frame Lagoon 122 The headmaster sent Mum a bluey saying action will be taken unless [etc.].
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xiii. 242 A uniformed John Hop..handed me the dreaded ‘bluey’, the summons for riding a bike without lights.
1995 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 5 Nov. 18 When you get a bluey from the Royal Commission you turn up and tell the truth, whether you like it or not.
b. British Military slang. A blue airmail letter form available free of charge to service personnel stationed abroad, and to their correspondents at home.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > paper for correspondence > types of
mourning paper1635
bank paper1696
bank post1801
foreign1825
Bath-post1837
bill-head1845
mourning notepaper1846
vellum post1847
bond papera1877
correspondence card1892
notehead1892
airmail paper1933
letterhead1939
notelet1955
bluey1989
1989 R. Jolly Jackspeak 33 Bluey, free airmail letter form used in operation areas such as the Falklands/South Atlantic theatre.
1991 Times 26 Jan. 5/7 A further three million free services airletters—known as blueys—are being distributed to post offices by the defence ministry.
2007 Daily Tel. 19 Apr. 23/5 It is the highlight of our week when the ‘bluey’ arrives from our son, who is serving in Afghanistan.
Phrases
Australian and New Zealand. to hump (one's, the) bluey: to travel with a swag, to hit the trail; cf. hump v. 2.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [verb (intransitive)] > with no fixed aim or wander > as a vagabond or tramp > carrying belongings
to swag it1861
to hump (one's, the) bluey1878
to walk (also waltz) Matilda1889
1878Hump bluey [see sense B. 2a].
1890 Argus (Melbourne) 16 Aug. 13/2 ‘We shall have to hump “bluey” again,’ said Tom... Early November saw us again on the track.
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. 73 ‘Humping bluey’ is for a workman to walk in search of work.
1911 E. M. Clowes On Wallaby xi. 278 An expression used for what in England we call ‘tramping’, is ‘going on the wallaby’, otherwise ‘humping the swag’, or ‘the bluey’, or ‘sundowning’.
1966 G. McInnes (title) Humping my Bluey.
1977 C. James in Listener 28 Oct. 598/1 Edna proved that you can hump your bluey all over the country..and still come up looking as chipper as Patricia Hayes.
Compounds
C1. Compounds of the noun.
bluey-humper n. Australian and New Zealand (now rare) a person who carries a bluey (sense B. 2a); = swagman n. (b) at swag n.1 Compounds 1; see hump v. 2.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [noun] > without fixed aim or wandering > vagrancy or vagabondage > vagabond or tramp > carrying belongings
swagman1851
swagger1855
swagsman1869
swaggie1892
bagman1896
drummer1898
battler1900
bindle-man1900
bindle-stiff1900
bluey-humper1903
bag lady1972
bag woman1977
1903 H. B. King Bill's Philos. 28 It ain't for bluey-humpers To travel on his road.
1925 F. W. Wallace Captain Salvation iii. 33 The Stepney's crowd were..the sweepings of Sydney, cockatoo farmers, bluey-humpers, sundowners, [etc.].
bluey-hunter n. slang (now historical) a person who steals lead; see sense B. 1.
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1851Bluey-hunter [see sense B. 1].
1870 E. Wright in E. Leach Incidents Life E. Wright xiii. 211 ‘Bluey hunters’, or ‘pigeon-flyers’, (men who steal lead from the roofs of old buildings).
2008 ‘J. Goodman’ Price of Desire xiii. 342 ‘Someone was trying to get in,’ she said. ‘Mmm. I thought we might put it down to a bluey-hunter, but that does not seem to be the case.’
C2. Compounds of the adjective.
a. Modifying colour words to form nouns and adjectives, as bluey-green, bluey-grey, etc.
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1769 D'Alenzon tr. ‘Hoamchi-Vam’ Bonze II. 51 My long taper neck, feathered with changeable bluey-green velvet.
1861 All for Best I. xiv. 234 Her hair, a very deep bluey black.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 May 3/1 An exquisite effect in bluey grey.
1900 Daily News 11 May 5/2 A bluey green colour.
1982 R. Davies High Spirits v. 44 The table was covered with a cloth of that refulgent bluey-whiteness that speaks of the finest linen.
1998 P. Melville Migration of Ghosts (1999) 146 The bluey-mauve jacaranda petals shed by the tree.
b. poetic. Modifying other adjectives relating to appearance, as bluey-dark, bluey pale, etc. Now rare.
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1796 T. Townshend Poems 34 Around her waist a lucid zone Of bluey-sparkling radiance shone.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. ii. 69 The lips were bluey pale.
1904 L. M. Eilshemius Songs Southern Scenes 114 While bluey-dark, the skies Made glow the awaking stars to brilliant gold.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1727