true blue
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: tro͞o′ blo͞o′
ipa: /ˌtɹuː ˈbluː/
ipa: /ˌtɹu ˈblu/
ipa: /ˌtɹʉː ˈblʉː/
ipa: /ˌtɹʉː ˈblʉː/
ipa: /ˌʈɾuː ˈbluː/
Forms: form: true-blue
Etymology: Endocentric compound of true (“loyal, faithful”, adjective) + blue (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”, adjective). The symbolism of the colour blue as representing constancy, faithfulness, loyalty, and truth may derive from the constant colour of the sky, or the tendency of certain blue dyes to resist fading, especially those made in Coventry.
Adjective senses 1.1.2 (“of or pertaining to the Tory, and now the Conservative, political party”) and 1.1.3 (“of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century”) probably both allude to sense 1 (“steadfastly faithful or loyal”). Sense 1.1.2 may also allude to sense 1.1.3 which is older, and sense 1.1.3 may partly allude to the blue colour of the flag of Scotland.
Senses: examples: text: He was a true blue supporter, and would not listen to what he supposed to be the lies of the opposition.
text: No, Tom's true-blue, Huck, and he'll come back. He won't desert.
ref: 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 133:
text: True love / You're the one I'm dreaming of / Your heart fits me like a glove / And I'm gonna be true blue, baby, I love you
ref: 1986 June 30, Stephen Bray, Madonna, “True Blue”, in True Blue, performed by Madonna:
text: On the other hand, their swing/three-way practices have made Tony one of the most true-blue mates one could have, an absolute dream for women, in fact.
ref: 2007, Lainie Speiser, “Alternative Lifestyles”, in Threesomes: For Couples Who Want to Know More, Beverly, Mass.: Quiver, →ISBN, page 158, column 1:
text: The origin of the term "blue law" is somewhat murky. It may have referred to the laws printed on blue paper for the New Haven colony in 1665. Or it may refer to "true blue" principles of Puritans—that is, unyielding and dogmatic.
ref: 2010, Garrett Peck, “BLUE LAWS”, in Rachel Black, editor, Alcohol in Popular Culture: An Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood, →ISBN, page 34:
glosses: Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.
glosses: Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.
Patriotic.
examples: text: […] Mr. Wenham himself was a staunch old True Blue Tory, and his father a small coal-merchant in the north of England […]
ref: 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which a Charade is Acted which May or May Not Puzzle the Reader”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 455:
text: Not that he is a violent Whig, or perhaps that he is a Whig at all. But he jeers and sneers at the old county doings; […] All this is deeply regretted, for, in the old days, there was no portion of the county more decidedly true blue than that Framley district; […]
ref: 1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “The Framley Set, and the Chaldicotes Set”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, pages 17–18:
glosses: Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.
Of or pertaining to the (historical) Tory, and now the Conservative, political party; hence, steadfastly conservative.
examples: text: For his Religion it was fit / To match his Learning and his Wit: / 'Twas Presbyterian true blew, / For he was of that stubbon Crew / Of Errant Saints, whom all men grant / To be the true Church Militant: […]
ref: 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 8:
text: This was a tough true-blue presbyterian, called Deans, who, though most obnoxious to the Laird on account of principles in church and state, contrived to maintain his ground upon the estate […]
ref: 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 190:
text: And werenae the folk guid sound Whigs and true-blue Prebyterians I would hae seen them ayont Jordan and Jeroozlem or I would have set hand to it.
ref: 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Bass”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 168:
glosses: Steadfastly faithful or loyal; unwavering in loyalty; staunch, true.
Of or pertaining to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig political party in the 17th century; hence, steadfastly Presbyterian.
examples: text: Some upscale, service-oriented dealers say competitors are installing the third-party disk drives in PC XTs and passing them off as true blue PC XTs.
ref: 1985 May 27, Steven Burke, “Retailing: Dealers Install Non-IBM Parts”, in J. Michael Lowe, editor, InfoWorld, volume 7, number 21, San Mateo, Calif.: Popular Computing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20, column 1:
text: Ellen [DeGeneres]'s honesty and true-blue down-to-earthness were riveting.
ref: 2001 October 23, Ted Johnson, “Reader Forum: The Ellen Show”, in The Advocate, Los Angeles, Calif.: Liberation Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 1:
text: That [Stefan] Lorant was Hungarian might have made [Bill] Brandt even more wary, since he was in the process of being re-born as a true-blue Englishman and leaving the Hungarians of Montparnasse behind him.
ref: 2004, Paul Delany, “In Pursuit of the English”, in Bill Brandt: A Life, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 99:
synonyms: archetypal
quintessential
glosses: Representing the true essence of something; authentic, genuine, honest.
synonyms: archetypal
quintessential
dinkum
dinky-di
glosses: Representing the true essence of something; authentic, genuine, honest.
Representing authentic Australian culture, values, etc.
glosses: Aristocratic by birth.
examples: text: Second, some living caerulea are blue: A few display attractive shades of blue green or, more rarely, true blue.
ref: 1996, R[ichard] D. Bartlett, Patricia P[ope] Bartlet, “Arboreal Favorites: Family Hylidae”, in Frogs, Toads, and Treefrogs: Everything about Selection, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, and Behavior, Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, →ISBN, page 78, column 2:
text: True blue chalcedony is uncommon and highly desirable as a lapidary material.
ref: 2010, Patti Polk, “Collectible Materials for Lapidary Use and Display”, in Collecting Rocks, Gems and Minerals: Identification, Values, Lapidary Uses, Iola, Wis.: Krause Publications, →ISBN, page 48:
glosses: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see true, blue.
Coordinate terms: dyed-in-the-wool
Related terms: tried and true