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27:
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words vilayat ("inhabited country", specifically Europe or
Britain) and vilayati ("foreign", or "British, English, European") were borrowed by the British in the 19th Century.... But it was the regional variant bilayati - rendered as Blighty in English and meaning "Britain, England, home" - which
281:
had a hit in 1916 with the song "I'm Glad I've Got a Bit of a
Blighty One" (1916), in which she played a soldier delighted to have been wounded and in hospital. "When I think about my dugout," she sang, "where I dare not stick my mug out... I'm glad I've got a bit of a blighty one". Another music
245:, a humorous weekly magazine, was issued free to British troops during the First World War. It contained short stories, poems, cartoons, paintings, and drawings, with contributions from men on active service. It was distributed by the
482:
After the introduction of conscription in 1916, the distinction between soldiers and civilians became less clear, and vocabulary passed readily from one group to the other. This is the case with ...
139:
The term subsequently gained an ironic connotation in its closeness to the
English word "blight", meaning epidemic. It's an example of typical post-imperial British self-effacement.
196:" – a wound serious enough to require recuperation away from the trenches but not serious enough to kill or maim the victim – was hoped for by many, and sometimes
491:
really took off in
Britain. Although it was first used during the Boer war, it was not until WW1 that Blighty spread widely and developed new meanings.
334:
that opened in
February 2009 and closed on 5 July 2013. The subscription channel, which concentrated on British-made programming, was replaced by a
443:
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with the use of b replacing v) meaning 'foreign', which more specifically came to mean 'European', and 'British; English' during the time of the
253:
and the Red Cross, and subsidised through donations and sales to the general public. The magazine was revived in 1939 and continued until 1958.
270:
word for "home". He writes: "The men are pessimistic but cheerful. They all talk about getting a 'cushy' one to send them back to 'Blitey'."
320:. The song contains the lines: "When I get back to Blighty, I'll give thanks to The Almighty / Whether Maggie's little war is lost or won".
738:
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in the specific meaning of homeland for the
English or British, and it was not until World War I that use of the term became widespread.
390:
617:
176:
During the First World War, "Dear Old
Blighty" was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the
808:
147:
Blighty is commonly used as a term of endearment by the expatriate
British community or those on holiday to refer to home. In
197:
818:
233:
returned from
Britain back to the Mughal Empire. The locals nicknamed him 'Bilayet Munshi' due to him being the first
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slang term for Great
Britain, or often specifically England. Though it was used throughout the 1800s in the
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for several things the British had brought into the country, such as the tomato and
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391:"Definition of Blighty - Oxford Dictionaries (British & World English)"
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123:) meaning 'Iran' and later 'Europe' or 'Britain', ultimately from Arabic
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296:. The term was also referenced in the song "All American Alien Boy" by
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This article is about the slang term for Britain. For other uses, see
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to mean an English or British visitor, it was first used during the
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magazine outside their dugout in France, December 1939.
237:(c. 1765) to travel to what was known as the Bilayet.
713:"Lyrics to "All American Alien Boy" (single version)"
442:– Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014; and in
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An early example of the usage of a derivative of the
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features a topical parody of the traditional song "
666:"Vintage Audio - Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty"
300:("I'm just a whitey from Blighty"), from the 1976
83:
229:being used to refer to Britain is after diplomat
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357:
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790:, with links to several issues of the magazine
598:. The War Office, The Admiralty, The Red Cross
352:
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363:"Why Do the Brits Call the U.K. 'Blighty'?""
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165:explained that the word came to be used in
529:A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary
16:British slang term for Britain or England
739:"Blighty closes as Drama opens for UKTV"
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458:
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467:"The English expressions coined in WW1"
42:engraved with a picture of two wounded
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447:Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary
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668:. First World War.com. 22 August 2009
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256:In his First World War autobiography
78:The word ultimately derives from the
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266:attributes the term "Blitey" to the
180:. The term was particularly used by
618:"Men's magazines: an A–Z - Blighty"
212:British soldiers reading copies of
153:, an 1886 historical dictionary of
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13:
14:
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745:. Media Business Insight Limited
284:Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty
96:. The Bengali word is a loan of
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465:Wild, Kate (21 February 2014).
50:with the inscription "Blighty!"
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397:. 12 July 2012. Archived from
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286:" (1917). The song is sung by
1:
809:United Kingdom in World War I
737:White, Peter (24 June 2013).
345:
788:National Library of Scotland
409:– via web.archive.org.
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7:
504:"World Wide Words: Blighty"
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203:
136:meaning 'state, province'.
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439:Collins English Dictionary
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18:
819:English words and phrases
592:"Blighty, Christmas 1917"
527:"ولاية" in F. Steingass,
21:Blighty (disambiguation)
652:Penguin Modern Classics
776:Encyclopedia Americana
743:www.broadcastnow.co.uk
395:oxforddictionaries.com
302:album of the same name
217:
192:. During that war, a "
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48:White Cliffs of Dover
29:
654:. 1957 . p. 94.
648:Good-Bye to All That
567:"Mirza I'tesamuddin"
259:Good-Bye to All That
784:Blighty and Sea Pie
692:Movie-locations.com
628:on 11 November 2013
425:The Free Dictionary
326:operated a digital
262:(1929), the writer
163:Arthur Coke Burnell
90:Hindustani language
88:, (from a regional
64:Indian subcontinent
328:television channel
288:Cicely Courtneidge
218:
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571:Peepal Tree Press
546:Firstworldwar.com
293:The L-Shaped Room
290:in the 1962 film
190:Siegfried Sassoon
182:World War I poets
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310:Rose and Crown
282:hall hit was "
231:I'tisam-ud-Din
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98:Indian Persian
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318:Falklands War
316:", about the
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630:. Retrieved
626:the original
622:Magforum.com
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474:. Retrieved
471:BBC Magazine
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444:Random House
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428:. Retrieved
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399:the original
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373:. Retrieved
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279:Vesta Tilley
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186:Wilfred Owen
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155:Anglo-Indian
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133:ولاية
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46:nearing the
602:13 February
476:22 February
430:27 February
405:27 February
375:30 December
369:BBC America
235:South Asian
94:British Raj
34:example of
32:World War I
798:Categories
346:References
314:Maggie May
298:Ian Hunter
275:music hall
268:Hindustani
247:War Office
171:soda water
159:Henry Yule
40:shell case
36:trench art
814:Boer Wars
786:from the
576:5 October
513:1 January
421:"blighty"
308:'s album
251:Admiralty
74:Etymology
749:20 March
632:20 March
551:26 March
336:Freeview
306:Ian Robb
277:artiste
204:Examples
184:such as
178:trenches
111:), from
102:vilāyatī
68:Boer War
779:. 1920.
672:27 June
484:Blighty
436:in the
332:Blighty
330:called
242:Blighty
226:wilāyah
214:Blighty
157:words,
143:Context
127:wilāyah
114:vilāyat
108:ولایاتی
58:" is a
56:Blighty
44:Tommies
722:9 June
697:9 June
486:. The
249:, the
222:Arabic
85:Viletī
340:Drama
120:ولایت
82:word
751:2014
724:2018
699:2018
674:2013
634:2014
604:2014
578:2022
553:2007
515:2024
488:Urdu
478:2014
432:2016
407:2016
377:2020
324:UKTV
273:The
188:and
161:and
80:Urdu
38:: a
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30:A
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117:(
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