"Bloody" is used in Australian culture in roughly the same way as in British culture, I think, so I'll offer my opinions for what they're worth.
It's about on par with "damn" or perhaps a smidge ruder. Considerably less rude than "shit". I was discouraged from saying it when I was a small child, but my parents and relatives used it all the time, and I don't think they would have blinked at me using it as a teenager providing I wasn't using it about *them*. People (politicians, celebrities, random human interest subjects) are publicly quoted using it, and it's commonplace on TV, and it's even used in some advertising campaigns. "If you drink, then drive, you're a bloody idiot" is the most famous around here.
My understanding of the word's etymology is that it's a bastardized form of "By our lady", circa early modern English.
no subject
It's about on par with "damn" or perhaps a smidge ruder. Considerably less rude than "shit". I was discouraged from saying it when I was a small child, but my parents and relatives used it all the time, and I don't think they would have blinked at me using it as a teenager providing I wasn't using it about *them*. People (politicians, celebrities, random human interest subjects) are publicly quoted using it, and it's commonplace on TV, and it's even used in some advertising campaigns. "If you drink, then drive, you're a bloody idiot" is the most famous around here.
My understanding of the word's etymology is that it's a bastardized form of "By our lady", circa early modern English.