<P> Bloody is a commonly used expletive attributive (intensifier) in British English . It was used as an intensive since at least the 1670s . Considered "respectable" until about 1750, it was heavily tabooed during c. 1750--1920, considered equivalent to heavily obscene or profane speech . Public use continued to be seen as controversial until the 1960s, but since the later 20th century, the word has become a comparatively mild expletive or intensifier . </P> <P> The word is also used in the same way in Australian English, New Zealand English and in other parts of the Commonwealth or in ex-Commonwealth countries . In American English, the word is uncommon and is seen by American audiences as a stereotypical marker of British English, without any significant obscene or profane connotation . </P> <P> Use of the adjective bloody as a profane intensifier predates the 18th century . Its ultimate origin is unclear, and several hypotheses have been suggested . </P> <P> It may be a direct loan of Dutch bloote, used "in the adverbial sense of entire, complete, pure, naked", which was suggested by Ker (1837) to have been "transformed into bloody, in the consequently absurd phrases of bloody good, bloody bad, bloody thief, bloody angry, etc., where it simply implies completely, entirely, purely, very, truly, and has no relation to either blood or murder, except by corruption of the word ." </P>

What does bloody mean in the british language