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Glite Dictionary
Blue Peter

Blue Peter

9.9
A blue flag with a white square raised to show a ship is ready to sail
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : bandera azul
  • When the Blue Peter is raised, it means the ship is about to leave port.

Examples

  • The ship raised the Blue Peter flag before leaving port.

  • The captain gave the order to hoist the Blue Peter at sunrise.

  • Sailors hurried to return onboard as soon as they saw the Blue Peter flying.

  • Have you ever seen a Blue Peter flag flying?

  • Sailors hurried to return onboard as soon as they saw the Blue Peter flying.

  • When the Blue Peter is raised, it means the ship is about to leave port.

  • The captain gave the order to hoist the Blue Peter at sunrise.

Surface Forms

Blue Peter singular
Blue Peters plural

Morphology

blue + Peter

This is a conventional name for a specific maritime flag; the meaning ‘a blue flag flown to signal a ship is ready to sail’ cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'blue' (a color) and 'Peter' (a proper name). As a culture-/domain-specific term and proper noun, its referent is arbitrary and unpredictable to a B1 learner who only knows the component words.

Etymology

The name Blue Peter comes from a bright blue flag with a white square that stood for the letter P, which sailors called 'Peter' in their old ship signals. Ships flew this flag to tell the crew to come back on board because the ship was 'ready to sail', so the name now means the ship is about to leave port.