Question

Blue Blood of high or noble birth; an aristocrat; from the upper class of society

Accepted Answer

Steve is marrying a very rich girl from high society, a real blue blood. Though this expression has been used in English since the early 1800s, it actually comes from an older Spanish saying. Old, aristocratic Spanish families used to boast that their skin was fairly light because they had not intermarried with the darker-skinned Moors. The Spaniards' veins showed through their skins as visibly blue in color. If their skin was darker because they had intermarried, the blood would not appear so blue. "Blue blood" is a translation of the Spanish words sangre azul. Today anyone can be called a blue blood if he or she is of noble birth, a member of high society, and so on. A related phrase is "upper crust" (see page 201).

Idiom	Blue Blood
Example	Steve is marrying a very rich girl from high society, a real blue blood.
Meaning	of high or noble birth; an aristocrat; from the upper class of society
Origin	Though this expression has been used in English since the early 1800s, it actually comes from an older Spanish saying. Old, aristocratic Spanish families used to boast that their skin was fairly light because they had not intermarried with the darker-skinned Moors. The Spaniards' veins showed through their skins as visibly blue in color. If their skin was darker because they had intermarried, the blood would not appear so blue. "Blue blood" is a translation of the Spanish words sangre azul. Today anyone can be called a blue blood if he or she is of noble birth, a member of high society, and so on. A related phrase is "upper crust" (see page 201).

Blue Blood High Spanish Society Noble Skin Steve