"blue murder"

tthe What is origin of the phrase "blue murder"?

From the OED. "Blue 8. fig. Often made the colour of plagues and things hurtful. blue murder, used in intensive phrases: see MURDER n. 3."

Any chance you recently saw the film, "Blue Mureder at St. Trinian's"? This extremely popular film of 1956-57 was second in a series about the antic doings of the girls at a fictional girls' school. The first (of 5) was Belles of St. Trinian's . SS