[General] "Bloody Hell"

[Williamyh]

Hi Everybody,

Bloody hell is a British English expression, right? Would American English use "bloody"?

 

[Abstract Idea]

Hi Everybody,

Bloody hell is a British English expression, right? Would American English use "bloody"?

The expression 'bloody hell' is also used in AmE.

Not a native speaker

 

[Williamyh]

The expression 'bloody hell' is also used in AmE.

Not a native speaker

Can you prove it? Thanks..

 

[Abstract Idea]

Can you prove it? Thanks..

No, I can't.
I am sorry.

 

[BMJ1]

Hi,

American English speakers never use the words "bloody" or "bloody hell". In the United States, those words are viewed as distinctly British. As a native speaker, I would certainly get some crazy looks from other Americans if I started using those words. :shock:

Hope this helps!

 

[buggles]

In US sitcoms like "Seinfeld", "Friends", "Frasier" and so on, British characters always say things like "Bloody Hell!" just to emphasise that they are British, (even though their accents usually sound Australian to British ears!) In one episode of "Seinfeld", the characters were trying to see who could sound most British by saying, "Not Bloody likely!" in what they thought were Cockney accents.

 

[Williamyh]

Thanks buggles and BMJ1. The answers are very clear to me.

 

[BobK]

FYI: the words 'Not bloody likely', while in common use, are probably derived from George Bernard Shaw's Cockney heroine Eliza Doolittle, who when asked if she was going to walk somewhere said 'Not bloody likely, I'm going by taxi' On the English stage in 1914 (he wrote Pygmalion in 1913, but the British première wasn't until the following year)., the words were scandalous. I imagine US TV first met the phrase by way of the film My Fair Lady - which would explain the association with Cockney.

b