blue-arsed fly
Britishnoun
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informal a blowfly; bluebottle
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informal in a state of frenzied activity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Members of the public believe the blue-arsed fly was actually around much earlier.
From The Guardian
Dictionary buzz … Get in touch with OED if you know the earliest usage of 'blue-arsed fly'.
From The Guardian
The phrase's original entry in the OED, in 2005, saw its earliest usage attributed to Prince Philip, who told a photographer in 1970: "You have been running around like a blue-arsed fly."
From The Guardian
I am rather taken, meanwhile, with the effort being put into finding the first appearance of "blue-arsed fly".
From The Guardian
The OED is appealing for the public's help in tracing the history of English words and phrases Most of us are familiar with the meaning of "running around like a blue-arsed fly", but where exactly did this peculiar phrase come from?
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.