Blauer Brief

Getting a "blue letter" is a nightmare for parents and school children in Germany because it bears bad news. Schools send them out when a student's grades are so low that he or she is in danger of having to repeat a class. While the school's warning isn't blue at all but looks like any other piece of mail, the name "blue letter" goes back to the 18th century, when Prussian officers would be handed their discharge papers in a blue envelope. In those days, paper was often made - boiled, in fact - out of old clothing, and the Prussian army's uniforms were blue.