Hacker News Reader

Human blood can turn blue when consuming enough (collodial) silver?

Like when rich people consumed food and beverages from pure silver plates (100's of years ago) their blood supposedly turned purple/blueish. Hence the term (at least in Dutch) that "he is of blue blood" = he rich af.

Or that's all a myth. Not sure.

View on HN

> Hence the term (at least in Dutch) that "he is of blue blood" = he rich af.

This is usually said to refer to the fact that someone's skin is so pale you can see the veins through it.

(Also, it refers to pedigree rather than wealth, in English...)

I would expect silver to turn things black, not blue.

(Although see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria )

They would hide from the sun to get extra veiny, because they could

Perhaps, but according to etymonline the term comes from Spain, where certain families described themselves as having "blue blood" to emphasize that they had no Moorish ancestry. The contrast being drawn isn't one between nobles and laborers. It's between indigenous nobles and intrusive nobles.

Like the programmers in our time

see also blue people - https://www.thecollector.com/blue-fugates-kentucky/

elevated methemoglobin in human blood causes brown blood causes blue skin

Reply on news.ycombinator.com