Blue Peter

Blue Peter
   British
   (of education)
   undisciplined or ineffective
   The derivation is from a television programme for children in which, among other activities, they were shown how to construct models out of waste materials. The use is derogatory of primary education where formal instruction in the 'three Rs' may be neglected in favour of letting the children express their personalities through unstructured activities:
    ... marginalised and often trivialised into the so-called Blue Peter technology and cardboard engineering. {Daily Telegraph, 7 September 1995)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • Blue Peter — Blue Blue (bl[=u]), a. [Compar. {Bluer} (bl[=u] [ e]r); superl. {Bluest}.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, livid, black, fr. Icel.bl[=a]r livid; akin to Dan. blaa blue, Sw. bl[*a], D. blauw, OHG. bl[=a]o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F. bleu,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blue peter — n. [prob. < blue repeater, signal flag used in Brit Navy] a blue signal flag with a white square in the center, flown by a merchant ship to show it is ready to sail …   English World dictionary

  • Blue Peter — ► NOUN ▪ a blue flag with a white square in the centre, raised by a ship about to leave port …   English terms dictionary

  • blue peter — (izg. blȗ pȋter) m DEFINICIJA pom. signalna zastava s bijelim četverokutom na modrom polju, po međunarodnom signalnom kodeksu brod njome najavljuje da napušta luku ETIMOLOGIJA engl …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Blue Peter — This article is about BBC television series. For other uses, see Blue Peter (disambiguation). Blue Peter Format Children s, entertainment Created by John Hunter Blair …   Wikipedia

  • Blue Peter IV — For other racehorses of the same name see: Blue Peter (horse)Thoroughbred racehorse infobox horsename = Blue Peter caption = sire = War Admiral grandsire = Man o War dam = Carillon damsire = Case Ace sex = Stallion foaled = 1946 country = United… …   Wikipedia

  • Blue Peter — UK / US noun Word forms Blue Peter : singular Blue Peter plural Blue Peters 1) [countable] a blue flag with a white square in the middle, used by ships to signal that they are ready to sail 2) [uncountable] a British television programme for… …   English dictionary

  • blue peter — Naut. a blue flag with a white square in the center, designating the letter P in the International Code of Signals, flown by a vessel in port to indicate its imminent departure. [1815 25] * * * ▪ racehorse       (foaled 1936), English racehorse… …   Universalium

  • blue peter — noun a blue flag with a white square in the center indicates that the vessel is ready to sail • Hypernyms: ↑code flag, ↑nautical signal flag * * * Blue Peter [Blue Peter] a British children’s television programme broadcast by the ↑BBC since 1958 …   Useful english dictionary

  • blue peter — /blu ˈpitə / (say blooh peetuh) noun a blue flag with a white square in the centre, symbol of the letter P in the International Code of Signals, hoisted by a ship as a signal that it is ready to leave port. {blue + peter, originally repeater} …  

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