Screwed, blued, and tatooed ...

**ABC** · 11-19-2012, 02:56 PM

Okay ...

Have read a few origins as to the meaning of the expression "screwed, blued, and tatooed." Not sure which is correct.

However, I do believe that we as Americans are are indeed in that situation with the re-election of this president.

Not to sound like a pessimist here ... which I have never, ever been ... simply a *realist* in light of what is no doubt in store for the future of our country.

Benjamin Franklin had it right when he wrote, "“When the People find they can vote themselves money, it will herald the end of the Republic”

We have already reached that point in my opinion, and there seems to be no going back.

What are your thoughts on this? Hoping for a turn around in 2016? I sadly, do not think it is possible.

**Unreconstructed Reb** · 11-19-2012, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by ABC in Georgia

Okay ...

Have read a few origins as to the meaning of the expression "screwed, blued, and tatooed." Not sure which is correct.

However, I do believe that we as Americans are are indeed in that situation with the re-election of this president.

Not to sound like a pessimist here ... which I have never, ever been ... simply a *realist* in light of what is no doubt in store for the future of our country.

Benjamin Franklin had it right when he wrote, "“When the People find they can vote themselves money, it will herald the end of the Republic”

We have already reached that point in my opinion, and there seems to be no going back.

What are your thoughts on this? Hoping for a turn around in 2016? I sadly, do not think it is possible.

It's "Blued, screwed and tattooed."

Origin: Navy

Meaning:
Blued - dress blues for shore leave
Screwed - fornicate with a local whore or two
Tattooed - get some new ink to commemerate the occasion

Taken on it's face, 'blued, screwed and tattooed' is a good thing.

**ABC** · 11-19-2012, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Unreconstructed Reb

Taken on it's face, 'blued, screwed and tattooed' is a good thing.

Thanks, Reb ...

You made me smile!

However ... shoved up our derrieres, is not quite the same thing! *sigh!*

**Elspeth** · 11-19-2012, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Unreconstructed Reb

It's "Blued, screwed and tattooed."

Origin: Navy

Meaning:
Blued - dress blues for shore leave
Screwed - fornicate with a local whore or two
Tattooed - get some new ink to commemerate the occasion

Taken on it's face, 'blued, screwed and tattooed' is a good thing.

That sounds like it must have originated in San Diego.

**Unreconstructed Reb** · 11-19-2012, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by ABC in Georgia

What are your thoughts on this? Hoping for a turn around in 2016? I sadly, do not think it is possible.

That's my opinion, also.

Claire Wolfe wrote this in 1996: "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." from her book 101 Things to Do 'Til the Revolution.

**Starbuck** · 11-19-2012, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Unreconstructed Reb

It's "Blued, screwed and tattooed."

Origin: Navy

Meaning:
Blued - dress blues for shore leave
Screwed - fornicate with a local whore or two
Tattooed - get some new ink to commemerate the occasion

Taken on it's face, 'blued, screwed and tattooed' is a good thing.

This is a new one, for me. I never made that connection.

Many of our common sayings have navy origins, though, and some are pretty surprising:

"Devil to pay" - has nothing to do with religion or money
"Between the devil and the deep blue sea" - similar to above
"Three sheets to the wind"
"Freeze the balls off a brass monkey" - nothing to do with animals or their anatomy
"Carried away"
"Let the cat out of the bag" - no animal involved here.
"Showing his true colors".

A "Monkey's fist" and a "Donkey dick" are both items found on board ships.

In reference to Obama, though. I agree. We'd better "shorten sail and heave to for a bit and just have a gam". It'll be better for us when the N'oreaster hits.

I spent nine years in the navy, mostly at sea. It is said in my family that I never recovered.

**ABC** · 11-19-2012, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Starbuck

We'd better "shorten sail and heave to for a bit and just have a gam". It'll be better for us when the N'oreaster hits.

I'll bite ...

Is a "gam" a good thing thing or a bad thing to have?

Is it fattening, illegal, or immoral? ...

**Starbuck** · 11-19-2012, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by ABC in Georgia

I'll bite ...

Is a "gam" a good thing thing or a bad thing to have?

Is it fattening, illegal, or immoral? ...

Turn of the century term that means talk; shoot the breeze; relax; visit. Joshua Slocum, in his book Sailing Alone Around The World, used it throughout the book.

**Unreconstructed Reb** · 11-19-2012, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by Starbuck

This is a new one, for me. I never made that connection.

My dad was in the Navy in WWII and he's the one I heard if from.

**Starbuck** · 11-20-2012, 12:29 AM

I got interested and went searching for Screwed, Blued and Tattooed, and found some interesting stuff:

Screwed, blewed and tattooed ....

Originally a term used by sailors, marines, etc. when describing a night of significant debauchery on shore leave during which they had intercourse (screwed), oral sex (blewed - being the past tense of blown as in "blow job") and got a tattoo. Later used more broadly to refer to getting so drunk that you participated in all possible forms of debauchery and may or may not remember it all.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...&defid=6060700

But another variation was this:

screwed, blued and tattooed

All the definitions I've seen here have a positive connotation, which is completely wrong. The phrase has always had a very definite negative connotation, and means to be supremely screwed, screwed beyond all comprehension. The original phrase was "screwed, blewed and tattooed".

"Screwed" essentially means "cheated" here, much as it does today.

"Blewed" meant "lost or been robbed of". The word's origin is from the German "blauen" so it's actually related to "blue", not "blew", and meant that something had vanished (into the blue). (According to "A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant" By Charles Godfrey Leland, published in 1889.)

"Tattooed" refers here to a beating with very rapid blows, in the same sense as a military tattoo, which is a rapid pattern on a drum.

So, the phrase literally meant "cheated, robbed and beaten".

But no matter the origin. Phrases mean what they mean today, for the most part, and sometimes that means forgetting their origins. And if you tell me you are screwed. blued, and tattooed, I know what you mean.