“Blow me down” is an English idiom used to express extreme surprise or amazement. Its origins come from old nautical slang and it is related to the phrase “hit me with a feather.” The unexpected news is so startling that it figuratively overthrows them. The phrase is often associated with sailing clubs and the American cartoon character Popeye.
“Blow me down” is an English idiom that is often used when someone is startled or stunned by a particular event. The meaning of the idiom comes from the fact that the astonishment of the event is so great that the person was figuratively knocked to the ground by it. This particular phrase draws its origins from old nautical slang and other similar expressions that emanate from the word “blow.” It is closely related to the phrase “hit me with a feather,” which suggests that a person is so startled that they can be knocked over by the lightest object imaginable.
Many English speakers use certain phrases that have a colorful and evocative meaning far removed from the literal meaning of the words included. These phrases are known as idioms and gain their meaning as people in the culture use them to describe similar sets of circumstances. Some of these idioms are used to express extreme surprise or amazement.
Basically, people use this phrase when they have witnessed or heard something out of the ordinary or different from what one might expect. The idea is that the unexpected news is so startling that it figuratively overthrows them. For example, someone might say, “Well, put me down, I can’t believe they’re getting married.”
Some people may be able to guess that the origins of this phrase come from sailing clubs. The age-old seafaring chant “Blow the Man Down” has survived into modern times, and the American cartoon character Popeye, who was also a sailor, often used the phrase whenever he was put in some sticky situation by his adversary, Bluto . Because winds were such an important part of a sailor’s life, many phrases emanated from that environment that involved some variation of the word “blow.”
There are times when people who use this idiom add a prepositional phrase at the end that includes the lightest possible object imaginable. In most cases, this item is a feather. For example, someone might say, “Well, you can knock me down with a feather if he shows up here today after everything he’s done.” The meaning of this sentence is that the speaker would be totally surprised if the person to whom it refers came along.
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