Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Blue Peter |
Blue PeterNoun1. A blue flag with a white square in the center indicates that the vessel is ready to sail. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Blue Peter A flag with a blue ground and white square in the centre, hoisted as a signal that the ship is about to sail. Peter is a corruption of the French partir (leave or notice of departure). The flag is hoisted to give notice to the town that any person having a money-claim may make it before the ship starts, and that all about to sail are to come on board. According to Falconer, it is a corruption of the "blue repeater." In whist, it is a "call for trumps"; that is, laying on your partner's card a higher one than is required. To hoist the blue Peter. To leave. " `When are you going to sail?' " `I cannot justly say. Our ship's bound for America next voyage ... but I've got to go to the Isle of Man first ... And I may have to hoist the blue Peter any day.' "- Mrs. Gaskell: Mary Barton, chap. xiii. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Can anyone supply an image of the flag?
The theme tune, in recognition of the origin of the title, is a sea shanty, and the programme's motif is a stylised sailing ship.
The programme, edited for many years by Biddy Baxter, was first shown in October 16, 1958, the original presenters being Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. The format consisted mainly of the two presenters demonstrating how to make toys and useful household objects, with the male presenter concentrating on traditional "boys'" toys such as model aeroplanes, and the female restricting herself to cookery, etc.
Over the years the programme changed to reflect the times. Originally it was a 15-minute weekly programme; currently it is 25 minutes and is shown three times a week. New presenters came and went, the best known being the 1960s team of Valerie Singleton, John Noakes and Peter Purves. Enduring features of the programme include the annual charity appeal, which involves young viewers by asking them to collect items that can be recycled or sold to raise money for the chosen cause. The team of presenters keeps various pets, the first of which was a dog named Petra.
Children (and occasionally adults) who appear on the show or achieve something notable may be awarded the coveted Blue Peter badge.
Of the total of 28 presenters who have fronted the programme during its lifetime (including Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan, John Leslie and Anthea Turner), one or two have failed to live up to the "squeaky-clean" image required of them. The most famous scandal involving a presenter occurred in 1998, when Richard Bacon was forced to resign after publicly confessing to having taken cocaine.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Blue Peter."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Departure | Leave a place, quit, vacate, evacuate, abandon; go off the stage, make one's exit; retire, withdraw, remove; vamoose, vamose; go one's way, go along, go from home; take flight, take wing; spring, fly, flit, wing one's flight; fly away, whip away; embark; go on board, go aboard; set sail' put to sea, go to sea; sail, take ship; hoist blue Peter; get under way, weigh anchor; strike tents, decamp; walk one's chalks, cut one's stick; take leave; say good bye, bid goodbye; Noun: disappear; abscond; (avoid); entrain; inspan. |
Indication | Insignia; banner, banneret, bannerol; bandrol; flag, colors, streamer, standard, eagle, labarum, oriflamb, oriflamme; figurehead; ensign; pennon, pennant, pendant; burgee, blue Peter, jack, ancient, gonfalon, union jack; banderole, " old glory ", quarantine flag; vexillum; yellow-flag, yellow jack; tricolor, stars and stripes; bunting. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Blue Peter (1958) The Blue Peter (1954) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Periodicals |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
blue peter | 54 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "blue peter"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Dutch | Blue Peter, blauwe signaalvlag, vertrekvlag. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | Bleu Peter, pavillon de partance, pavillon de départ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | Blauer Peter, Abfahrtsflagge. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | p-jelű indulási lobogó, kék péter. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Italian | Partenza (blastoff, departure, leaving, parting, start). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Manx | brattagh shiaullee, brattagh faggee. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ueblay eterpay флаг отплытия. (various references) bandera de salida. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-e-e-l-p-r-t-u" | |
-2 letters: beetler, replete. | |
-3 letters: beeper, beetle, belter, butler, peeler, pelter, petrel, repute, treble. | |
-4 letters: beret, betel, bleep, bluer, bluet, blurt, brute, buret, butle, elute, erupt, leper, letup, peter, plebe, puler, puree, rebel, rebut, relet, repel, ruble, rupee, tepee, tuber. | |
-5 letters: beep, beer, beet, belt, blet, blue, blur, bree, brut, burl, burp, bute, epee, leer, leet. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-e-e-l-p-r-t-u" | |
+3 letters: unrepeatable. | |
+4 letters: unrespectable. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Usage: Modern 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Expressions: Internet 6. Translations: Modern 7. Anagrams 8. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
