blue book
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See also: bluebook
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The term dates back to the 15th century, when large blue velvet-covered books were used for record-keeping by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Noun[edit]
blue book (plural blue books)
- A book of statistics or almanac, usually published by an agency or as a trade publication.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- "I was the flail of the Lord up in those parts, I may tell you, though you won't find it in any Blue-book."
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blue, book.