(UK, slang, obsolete) To steal lead from the roof or other parts of a building.
(UK, slang, obsolete) To steal lead from the roof or other parts of a building.
No comments yet — say something.
Add your own interpretation of "fly the blue pigeon".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with F.
(UK, slang, obsolete) One who steals lead from the roof or other parts of a building.
In nautical slang, a blue pigeon refers to the lead weight attached to a sounding line — the tool sailors dropped overboard to measure water depth. The metaphor is visual: the weighted lead flies off the side of a ship and dives down through the water much like a diving bird. It's a lovely example of sailors' poetic tendency to give prosaic tools evocative names, part of the rich vocabulary that made life at sea feel like a world apart.
(nautical, slang) The lead used for sounding.
Any member of the genus of the pigeon family.