Blue Chip
The colloquial term Blue chip has developed to mean anything which is top of the range or first class, and can refer to a product, an investment or a stock or share, a service provided, hotel accommodation or anything which its owner or manufacturer considers to be ahead of the game. In fact, it’s the ultimate ‘spin’ word.
A Google search of the term brings up more than five million pages including a mention of chipinfo.org.uk, with most of the entries as advertorials. Blue chip investments, (somewhat of a joke at present), Blue chip vacations, Blue chip IT services and even Blue chip horse supplements are all there.
The term is specifically applied to companies – a Blue chip company and its stock are considered to be ultra-reliable, giving good returns and paying dividends on time, with the FTSE 100 are all Blue chip companies, as is (or was?) Barclays Bank. Nowadays, the term has diluted so much it’s lost its meaning.
Online sites such as chipinfo.org.uk may give you an understanding of the term, but like so much in the English language, the dictionary definition is far simpler, with, for example, Wiktionary providing just ‘a high value gaming chip’, the term’s original meaning, or ‘a reliable investment’.
Of course, at a casino, a high value gaming chip can be lost on the throw of a dice, and so, these days, can a high value investment; strange that the term, applied to that investment, is meant to convey reliability! Perhaps chipinfo.org.uk may be able to explain.
