Posted by Robert Hill on September 30, 2002 at -1:56:02 from 195.92.168.163 user eclrh.
In Reply to: Re: Pigeon Post posted by Mike Dennis on September 29, 2002 at 15:04:42:
It's not a misprint. To "blue" or "blow" a sum of money is to spend it,
as someone has said, in one go, with overtones of spending it on impulse,
or (as Gordon Brown might say) without due prudence -
not that that's likely for Susan.
The relevance of the version with verb "blow" (past tense "blew" or perhaps "blowed",
past participle "blown" or perhaps "blowed", as in "I'll be blowed")
is obvious. I imagine this must have been the original version.
The version with "blue" (past tense and past participle "blued")
must have arisen through confusion, but is now a well-established alternative.
After writing the above, I've checked Chambers, which says the same,
more concisely: "blue, v.t. to squander [Prob. for blow.]"