I'm plowing through a novel this evening, and in it, one of the characters remarks "purple blazes." The expression should be (to me) "blue blazes." Does anyone know if "purple blazes" is the expression in some countries?
Mid-- I've occasionally come across that phrase, but never as an interjection-- only as a description of landscape ("the hill was sprinkled with purple blazes").
Not sure if that's actually some kind of flower or just a poetic turn of phrase, and of course it might not have anything to do with the usage you're citing.
For that matter, what's the etymology of "blue blazes"? Maybe that's flower based as well, and your author is just being aesthetically eccentric.
Hmmm......... According to Mr. Google, the "blazes" in question refer to "the fires of hell" and the "blue" is just an alliterative intensifier.
So "what in blue blazes" is "what the hell?" for the non-swearing set, but I guess we knew that.
So maybe just a familial eccentricity that stuck? I know in my family we have slight variants of common phrases that nobody could tell you where they came from. Somebody got it wrong once and it tickled somebody's fancy and a very small usage subset is born.
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It should be "blue blazes." The author is a Brit who lived in Japan and who now lives in Ireland writing in the voice of a Texan.
Mid-- I've occasionally come across that phrase, but never as an interjection-- only as a description of landscape ("the hill was sprinkled with purple blazes").
Not sure if that's actually some kind of flower or just a poetic turn of phrase, and of course it might not have anything to do with the usage you're citing.
For that matter, what's the etymology of "blue blazes"? Maybe that's flower based as well, and your author is just being aesthetically eccentric.
So "what in blue blazes" is "what the hell?" for the non-swearing set, but I guess we knew that.
So maybe just a familial eccentricity that stuck? I know in my family we have slight variants of common phrases that nobody could tell you where they came from. Somebody got it wrong once and it tickled somebody's fancy and a very small usage subset is born.
I'm just curious if anyone has ever seen this expression before.
Purple blazes, no.
I've heard it plenty of times.
Nordkapp, would you mind saying where you're from and in what context you've heard it?
Nordkapp, would you mind saying where you're from and in what context you've heard it?
I suspect he's responding to your post immediately above his and saying that he's heard "blue blazes" plenty of times.
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Purple would be an even hotter flame, just as blue is hotter than yellow or orange or red, temperature-wise.
The author is taking poetic license? As in hotter than Hell.
The author is taking poetic license? As in hotter than Hell.
That's my initial thought, but I thought I'd ask around here to see if anyone's ever heard the expression.
Nordkapp, would you mind saying where you're from and in what context you've heard it?
As someone has said, in context, purple blazes means 'what the hell' - at least that's the very minimum it meant when it has been said to me.
Seriously, it's like "What in the purple blazes is going on here?"
It should be "blue blazes." The author is a Brit who lived in Japan and who now lives in Ireland writing in the voice of a Texan.
David Mitchell? Except that I don't know about the Texan thing... so must not be him...
Anyway David Mitchell is one of the best authors alive today.
David Mitchell? Except that I don't know about the Texan thing... so must not be him...
Anyway David Mitchell is one of the best authors alive today.
Yeah. It's Mitchell in Ghostwritten. And I agree. He's fantastic.