The inbred European aristocracy has always admired paleness - Queen Elizabeth I used to cover her face with white lead powder - and the veins of very pale-skinned people show blue under the skin. Hence the notion that the idle high-born have blue blood. And they do, too! Unless it is carrying oxygen or exposed to the air, all blood is blue.
Editing this answer:
All blood is definitely NOT blue! All blood is red. There are approximately 35 trillion red blood cells circulating in the human body at any given time, so they lend some of their red colour to blood only by virtue of their sheer volume. Red blood cells only have a lifespan of approximately 4 months before they 'die' by being broken up in the spleen and replaced by new red blood cells. As new red blood cells mature, they increase their production of hemoglobin (iron mixed with protein), which is the true red pigment of blood. All blood, whether carrying oxygen (going through the lungs & beyond to the rest of the body) or carbon dioxide (heading back to the lungs) is red.
The rest of the original answer is correct. Royalty has always sought to differentiate itself from the common man, and one way of doing that in olden times was to keep royal skin as pale and as untouched by the sun as possible - since the common man, usually a farmer, would be quite browned by working outdoors.
The term "blue blood" originated in Spain. It was used to differentiate between people with pale skin (Europeans) from others. The veins appeared more blue due to the lighter skin. The term was carried over from Spanish to English in the early 1800's.
Ameer
spanish
The first correction is also right, but left out of this PC version is who the "others" were. The lighter skin population were Spaniards who used their fair skin to prove that the bloodline of their family was not tainted by the Moors during their occupation. This was used as a way to segregate and possibly even prosecute individuals who were not fair skin. These were the "others". This way of thinking in Spain carried on even into the occupation of lands within the new world.
Blue blood is black blood (1100-1848) by Egmond Codfried. Blue men were the black and brown complexioned Europeans, the first Europeans before the whites arrived 6000 years ago. From 1100-1200 their descendents called themselves blue bloods and considered themselves the true Europeans. blue blood is the identity of the oldest and highest nobility. They enforced intermarriage because the brown and black complexion meant superiority over whites. Hence also the images of Black Madonna's, which were created around the same time, which meant that god was Black. This also goes for the Black King Balthazar as the Black nobility brought Christianity to Europeans.
deoxygenated blood is more of a blue color compared to oxygenated blood which is redder
Blue blood stood for the highest nobility, which started around 1100-1200. Before this era Black and brown Europeans were called blue men. They were even seen among the blond Vikings raiding England. Next we have a group of Europeans declaring themselves a noble and royal class that identified as blue blood.
Haitian is awesome .but the red mean the blood that was shed . the blue also mean us . so be happy where you come from... :)
from Shalespeare - Ariel's song in The Tempest
The expression "by George" is a mild oath or exclamation from the late 1500s. The word "George" is a substitute for "God," as are words like "golly," "ginger," "gosh," "gum," and so on in euphemistic oaths.
red- blood, white- peace + blue-truth
The origin of the term 'got dibs' is unknown. Dibs was a game similar to jacks, and the term also referred to money.
The full expression is: like a (lightning) bolt from the blue, meaning the rare instance of a bolt of lightning that strikes a long way from its cloudy source, seemingly out of a clear blue sky.
Depending on who's made the comment, it could mean that you have blue blood running through your veins because you are a cop, through and through. Meaning if you were to bleed, your blood would be blue because of you and what you are. I, myself am a cop. I've heard the expression countless times and have used it myself.
a dolphins blood is somewhat like humans but their blood starts out red and come out red
No, normal human blood is cherry red when full of oxygen and purple red when full of carbon dioxide. When viewed though skin however, the veins can look bluish.The term "blue blood" is an expression from the Spanish phrase "sangre azul," indicating noble birth or descent.
No, penguins do not have blue blood. An animal who does have blue blood is the lobster and lizards have green blood.
Of course not. Where did you get that ridicule idea ? Ridiculous to who? I did good old fashioned scientific research and discovered personal descriptions, even a poem of nobles who had brown and black complexion. My theory is called blue blood is black blood (1100-1848) by Egmond Codfried and can be read in google.
"Blue blood" LITERALLY means blood that is blue in color.
Mammalian blood is NOT blue.
Yes blue animals have blue blood
Red vs- Blue The Blood Gulch Chronicles - 2003 Let's Come to Order 3-15 was released on: USA: 28 March 2005
Yes, a earthworm does have blue blood.
To get the "Come Back to my Place" expression you need to buy the expression book from the Bowerstone Market bookstore "Fiction Burns."