I often heard this expression before. Now such comparisons and analogies are giving way to more fashionable and modern ones. But if you do not know how the description of an important, respectable, "aristocratic" person with the words "blue blood" arose, I will now explain to you.
And the octopuses have nothing to do with it …
In the Middle Ages, under the conditions of a feudal society, it was possible to distinguish a "decent person" from a commoner not only by the richness of the dress and certain wardrobe items, but also by the cleanliness and, most importantly, the absence of tanning.
The fact is that the overwhelming majority of the population of any medieval state was represented by peasants. The cultivator spends almost all his time in the field, literally working from dusk to dawn. As a result, sooner or later a tan appears on the body. The skin acquired a characteristic dark tint. As a result, some Italian, Spanish or South French "man" looked so that he could not be confused with a Moor!
Against the background of the appearance, the representatives of the upper classes were sharply contrasted: the clergy and the nobility. These people did not spend so much time in the open air in the sun, and therefore were, firstly, cleaner, and secondly, they did not have a characteristic tan. Thus, white clean skin was considered a kind of marker, by which, among other things, it was possible to distinguish a noble person from an ordinary person.
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What does the color of blood have to do with it? Moreover, when the skin is clean and unburned, veins are much better visible on it, which have a characteristic blue color. Thus, among representatives of the nobility and clergy (a significant part of which consisted of all the same people from noble houses), the veins on the body (primarily on the hands) were very clearly visible. Where did the expression come from - blue blood, which from the very beginning meant people from the upper classes.
