This week's theme: words formed by contraction.

blimey (BLY-mee) interjection

   An expression of surprise, dismay, etc.

[Contraction of "blind me" or "blame me", from "God blind/blame me";
sometimes heard in the form gorblimey or corblimey.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

Other examples of similar euphemistic contractions, mostly out of use, are:
Strewth: God's truth
'sblood: God's blood
Lassy me: Lord save me

  "And blimey, if Rupert Grint doesn't storm the barricades of boyishness
   to find something emergent, touching and vital in Ron Weasley."
   Peter Travers; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Rolling Stone
   (New York); Jun 29, 2007.

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............................................................................
War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it. -Desiderius
Erasmus, humanist and theologian (1466-1536)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/blimey.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/blimey.ram

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