turn the air blue

English edit

Verb edit

turn the air blue (third-person singular simple present turns the air blue, present participle turning the air blue, simple past and past participle turned the air blue)

  1. (idiomatic) To speak a stream of bad language; to curse and swear.
    • 1893, Isabella Castelar, The Spanish Treasure: A Story of Love and the Love of Gold, page 228:
      ... he then relieved his feelings by kicking the lot, collectively and separately, swearing continuously in a strain calculated to turn the air blue all around him.