movie



blue movie

A film that contains graphic sexual content. The use of "blue" to mean lewd or indecent dates from the mid-1800s, though the origin is unclear. A lot of kids at school got in trouble for trading blue movies.
See also: blue, movie

popcorn movie

A film that is entertaining to watch but is generally not of a very high quality or rich in emotional or intellectual depth. A: "So what movie do you want to go see later?" B: "I don't feel like watching anything too heavy or complex—let's just see whatever popcorn movie is out."
See also: movie, popcorn

tentpole movie

A film with a very large budget and production value that is meant to provide substantial revenue to the production company. Big blockbusters used to be quite the rare cinematic event, but we've gotten to the point now where there's a tentpole movie coming out nearly every weekend of the year.
See also: movie, tentpole

snuff movie

A film that shows the actual murder or death of a person. Although snuff films are illegal, they are still widely circulated on the black market.
See also: movie, snuff

a snuff movie

a film that is intended to be sexually exciting which shows a person being murdered In May '92 he was arrested and charged with importing snuff movies into the country.
See also: movie, snuff

B movie

The low-budget second part of a movie theater's double feature. Back in the days of double features, movie houses showed two very distinct types of films. A movies were the hits—“Gone With the Wind,” “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane,” “The Wizard of Oz”—the ones that drew patrons to the movie houses. Then there were Westerns, horror flicks, and science fiction movies that didn't cost very much to make (they were often in black-and-white). These B movies tended to be shown before the main feature; otherwise, people would leave after the A picture and then feel they hadn't gotten their admission money's worth. As double features disappeared and the cost of filmmaking grew, the curtain went down on the B movie genre.
See also: movie

blue movie

A pornographic film. Why off-color movies were called “blue” remains a matter of conjecture. Although one definition of “blue” has been “lewd” since the 19th century, its application to movies might have referred to the 19th-century Blue Laws morality codes and state and local laws based on them, of which dirty movies would certain run afoul. Other explanations include the bluish tint of the early cheaply made black-andwhite movies, and the bluish cigarette and cigar smoke haze in rooms where men gathered to watch such films (the get-togethers were in fact known as “smokers”). “Blue” faded over the years and was replaced by “dirty movie, “adult film,” “skin flick” and “hard- or soft-core porn.”
See also: blue, movie

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Cinzia-Italian
Mannes-Dutch
Manoja-Hinduism
Bagot['bægət]
KennedyKEN-ə-deeEnglish, Irish
ArielAR-ee-əl (English), ER-ee-əl (English), AY-ree-əl (English)Hebrew, English, French, Biblical, Biblical Greek