Bluenose

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who is excessively puritanical and strict about moral behavior ; a famed Canadian sailing ship known for fishing and winning races
2. An individual regarded as rigidly conservative or prudish in matters of morality ; a historic schooner from Canada that served dual roles as a fishing vessel and a racing competitor
3. Someone considered overly narrow-minded or censorious about social or sexual conduct ; a celebrated maritime schooner from Canada used for fishing and competitive sailing

Etymology: The sense "overly strict person" grows out of an older sense of the color. Blue was long associated with Presbyterians and with the Blue Laws, the strict moral codes of Puritan-influenced communities, so a "blue nose" came to describe someone who disapproved of fun. The phrase had a second, more literal origin in Nova Scotia, where it became a nickname for the province's people. One explanation holds that early sailors' noses turned blue in the cold; another suggests the settlers' diet of blue potatoes and herring gave the name. Both stories are alleged rather than proven. The Nova Scotian sense is the one that travelled furthest. Its people became "Bluenosers," and the nickname later attached itself to the province's famous racing schooner, the Bluenose, which appears on the Canadian dime. A Cape Breton University professor, Bill Davey, spent years studying where the word came from, and the term was eventually recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Synonyms: puritan