Where does the phrase "Once in a blue moon" come from and is there such a thing as a blue moon?

Question

♥

Answer 1

a "Blue Moon" is when there are two full moons in a month

it happends about once every 2 years (or 18mo, i forget)

Answer 2

Although people nowadays interpret the phrase to mean "rarely", it probably originally meant "never" and was somewhat synonymous with "when pigs fly" and "when h**l freezes over".

In relatively recent times, the phrase has been linked to the second full Moon in a calendar month.  This is rare, but not unheard of...it happens every few years.  However, this was not the original meaning of the phrase.  For more information, check out this Straight Dope article:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_...

I hope that helps.  Good luck!

Answer 3

This is a frequent topic of conversation in astronomy circles. It seems that someone published a flawed etymology of the term in Sky and Telescope magazine many years ago, and his explaination -- that the term refers to two full moons in the same calendar month -- through constant un-critical repetition became conventional wisdom. Later research showed that the term simply refers to "once in a very long while," and nothing more. The moon actually appearing blue is virtually unheard of, hence the term's folk wisdom.

Answer 4

"Once In a Blue Moon" is a metaphor meaning that something happens rarely - my parents say that all the time - like you should only eat junkfood once in a blue moon... Yeah it's real it happens once a month

Answer 5

A blue moon was a synonym for absurdity - considered to be as likely as the moon being made out of green cheese.

There are rare examples of the moon actually appearing blue, after volcanic eruptions or unusual weather conditions.

Answer 6

A blue moon is a second full moon in one month

Answer 7

Just in case you were looking for more information then what was said, I included a link.

A blue moon happens when a full moon happens four times in a normal season as defined by the Farmer's Almanac. It happens just under every 3 years.

The blue coloring that sometimes happens is because of our atmosphere (which is the source of most coloring we see in the sky). I've been told that blue can most likely be seen when there is smoke or ash in the sky. So, today we probably would see the bluish tint more often then they did years ago.

In the USA:

June30th according to wiki was the last Blue Moon and the next will be December 31, 2009 (the last day of the year next year, cool huh?).  

Answer 8

i have no clue why it is called a BLUE moon, but there is such thing as one...it is a second full moon in one month, which is rare, hence once in a blue moon

Answer 9

a blue moon is the second full moon in a month

it doesnt happen very often b/c the moon goes in a 27 day cycle