Until one is blue in the face 意為「任憑某人說破嘴皮也沒用；無論某人做多大的努力都徒勞無功」，其中 blue in the face 是指缺氧，臉變成了青紫色，或臉都鐵青了。換言之，當一個人花了很長時間做一件事情，做到臉都發青了也沒用、不會成功，就可用這個成語來表示。
Until one is blue in the face 出現於 1820 年代，最初是寫成 until one is black and blue in the face。到了 1860 年代，black 被拿掉了，而變成現在的樣子。
例句：
- I talked until I was blue in the face, but I couldn’t change his mind. (任憑我說破嘴皮也沒用，他的心意都不會改變)
- John can tell his daughter to wash the dishes until he is blue in the face, but she won’t do it. (任憑約翰磨破嘴皮叫他女兒洗碗，她也不會去做的)
- Martin argued with his mother until he was blue in the face, but she still made him clean his room. (無論馬丁跟他母親如何爭辯都徒勞無功，她還是要他打掃自己的房間)