blue law

English

Etymology

Unknown

Noun

blue law (plural blue laws)

1. (Canada, US, now historical) A restrictive religious-based law in colonial New England, especially preventing leisure activities on a Sunday. [from 18th c.]
2. (Canada, US) By extension, any puritanical or restrictive law, especially one that prohibits or restricts commercial activity on a Sunday. [from 19th c.]
   • 2001, David Sedaris, diary entry January 22, in Theft by Finding, Back Bay Books 2017, p. 441:

     [I]t's actually a way around the Swiss blue laws demanding that shops close from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. The laws apply everywhere but the airport, so they built a massive supermarket in the Swiss Air terminal.