Dictionary

Pygmalion word en · NOUN

Etymology

From the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion, which included the line "not bloody likely" – at that point, the word "bloody" was considered scandalous. See also not Pygmalion likely.

Meanings

1. (UK, euphemistic, obsolete) The word bloody.
   • Sheridan was speaking about the council fleecing tenants and used a pygmalion word. 1960 April 28, The Times:
   • As soon as men re-entered the company of women adjustments were made; Emma Duffin reported that one of her charges 'used the 'Pygmalion' word to me' (bloody), but she made him apologise. 1918, Julian Walker, Words and the First World War: Language, Memory, Vocabulary, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2005, →ISBN, page 117:

Forms

wikipedia: George Bernard Shaw · wikipedia: Pygmalion (play)