Today this funny phrase - "Blue stocking" has a dismissive and even offensive. However, referring to the origins of its emergence, we can understand that initially it had a completely different meaning. There are several main versions of the origin of this "colored" phraseological turnover.

The first version - English



In this version of the origin of the phrase is commonly attributed to the England of the eighteenth century, the heyday of literature and art classes. Socialite prefer to spend their free time at a certain lady Montague, in which the walls of his house failed to organize society philosophical and literary orientation under the guidance of the scholar of Stringfield, known in those days, the champion of the established traditions in fashion.


Stringfield expressed their loud protest against the fashion trends by means of extravagant outfits that necessarily included blue stockings instead of the usual and accepted for wearing under clothing whites.
It is believed that this fact became the reason for the renaming of the literary society black stockings and gave the name of a famous poem of Byron.


The second version - the Venetian



Under the so-called Venetian version of the expression "Blue stocking" was born in Venice thanks to intelligent young aristocrats who had dedicated his life to the study of science and wore blue stockings as a distinctive attribute of their belonging to the world of knowledge.

Third version - French



The third version refers to France of the 17th century and draws attention to the Comedy of Moliere "women Scientists", which is supposedly dedicated to the ladies interested in intellectual questions and actually looks ridiculous and absurd. The Assembly actually existed in France in those days companies of this kind do not without shocking the audience with unusual black stockings.
Anyway, the modern "blue stockings," great learning, often building a brilliant career, however, completely eliminate from your life of fans and other inclinations in the direction of building relationships.


Today women's issues are a prude, refusing personal life, usually associated with overly strict upbringing and personality, perhaps formed in childhood under the influence of the ridicule of their peers.