my cover is blown!

[topogigo]

Where does that phrase come from? Who initially decided to that your "Cover" -which i assume relates to the word "Covert"- should it be no longer effective, could be described as "Blown". Beats the hell out of me! (Perhaps i should get out more.)

[aka pixi]

I guess if you are 'undercover' and get sussed then your cover is blown.

Unless you are partial to sleeping outside and it was windy one night and your duvet blew away??

[Quizmonster]

The verb 'blow' has been used since the 1940s to mean ruin, spoil or bungle. We see it in sentences such as "He blew his one great opportunity to be champion." Similarly, if you are an undercover agent of some sort - perhaps a policeman pretending to be a drug dealer - and one of the baddies spots who you really are, your cover (ie the pretence) is blown.

[joko]

cover story