Blighty, blighty, n. Army slang.
(ˈblaɪtɪ)
[Contracted form, originating in the Indian army, of Hind. bilāyati = wilāyatī foreign, and esp. European, f. wilāyat prop. Arabic, inhabited country, dominion, district, vilayet, in Hind. esp. foreign country (cf. Arab. walī governor of a province, vali, wali).
Cf. Bilayutee pawnee, Bilátee panee. The adject. bilāyatī..is applied specifically to a variety of exotic articles,..and most especially bilāyatī pānī, ‘European water’, the usual name of soda-water in Anglo-India (Yule & Burnell, Hobson-Jobson).]
England, home. (Used by soldiers on foreign service.)
| [1886 Kipling From Sea to Sea (1899) II. 358 Let the town hear of the wonders which I have seen in Belait.] 1915 Times (weekly ed.) 8 Oct. 852 The only thing they looked forward to was getting back to ‘Blighty’ again. 1916 N. & Q. 19 Feb. 151/1 One poem I have recently seen begins:—Oh, send me back to Blighty. 1917 P. MacGill Gt. Push xix. 238 I'll send out the money and fags when I go back to blighty. 1968 J. R. Ackerley My Father & Myself vii. 60, I was not happy in Blighty. |
b. attrib. or adj. ‘Home’, as distinguished from ‘foreign’.
| 1918 Aussie Aug. 9/2 The C.O. endeavours to persuade Private Hardcase to accept Blighty Leave. 1926 Morn. Post 8 Dec., An Exhibition and Sale of Blighty Industries. |
c. In the war of 1914–18 applied to a wound that secured return to England. Also attrib.
| 1916 N. & Q. 4 Mar. 194/2 I believe that ‘B.B.’ is the regular, though unofficial description of any non-fatal wound serious enough to send its victim back to a base hospital—Blighty Boy. 1916 Daily Mail 1 Nov. 4/4 So-and-so stopped some shrapnel and is back at the base in hospital,..he wasn't lucky enough to get a blighty. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 29 A Blighty bullet sent him back to England and gave him a mention in the casualty list. 1918 Locke Rough Road xix, Mo says he's blistering glad you're out of it and safe in your perishing bed with a Blighty one. 1927 Daily Express 18 Oct. 1/1 Soldiers are visiting the battlefields..in the hope of finding trenches, dug-outs, or the exact spot where they received their ‘blighties’. 1934 V. M. Yeates Winged Victory i. xii. 104 Marsden..had had his left arm damaged by a bullet and had gone to hospital very pleased with himself for having picked out of the dip the ideal Blighty. |