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blue-arsed fly

British  

noun

  1. informal  a blowfly; bluebottle

  2. informal  in a state of frenzied activity

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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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