blue law

English

Etymology

Unknown.

Noun

blue law (plural blue laws)

  1. (Canada, US, now historical) A restrictive religious-based law in colonial New England, especially preventing leisure activities on a Sunday. [from 18th c.]
    • 1976 February 7, Rose Flower, quoting Jimmy McGrath, “Playland: The Friendliest Place In Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 32, page 13:
      Years ago, because of the Blue Laws, we couldn't serve drinks on Sunday over the bar, so we set up tables in the aisles. And we'd have different acts on a stage up front.
  2. (Canada, US, by extension) Any puritanical or restrictive law, especially one that prohibits or restricts commercial activity on a Sunday. [from 19th c.]
    • 2001, David Sedaris, diary entry January 22, in Theft by Finding, Back Bay Books 2017, p. 441:
      [I]t's actually a way around the Swiss blue laws demanding that shops close from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. The laws apply everywhere but the airport, so they built a massive supermarket in the Swiss Air terminal.
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