bly stil, interjectional phrase

/bleɪ ˈstəl/
Forms:
Formerly also blij stil.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans (earlier Dutch blij stil), bly to remain, stay + stil quiet.
colloquial
A command: ‘be quiet’, ‘shut up’.
1924 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Jhb. 225His Honour glared, sneezed and grunted harshly, loudly, reprovingly, ‘Blij stil!’ (Be quiet!)
1959 J. Meiring Candle in Wind 21‘Bly stil’, she snarled at them, and they recognised her voice and were quiet.
1975 S. Roberts Outside Life’s Feast 16Kaptein had started howling and jumping and wagging and bouncing bum-up when he saw them at the window, and Mrs Luyt had yelled, bly stil.
1989 H. Hamann in Scope 24 Mar. 56‘Bly stil!’ I heard someone hiss in a harsh whisper. Thud! The sandbag fell again.
1990 Sunday Times 4 Mar. 5She was hushed by the audience and told to ‘Bly stil,’ ‘Sit’ and ‘Sssssh’.
‘be quiet’, ‘shut up’.
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19241990

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idiomatic
colloquial
blushing bride, noun phrasen. phr.bo-, prefixpref.
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