IDIOMS OF COLOR

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BLACK
Black and blue - Bruised.  "After the fight, they were both black and blue."

Black and white - Clearly distinct or different.  "It's as plain as black and white."

Blackball - A negative vote, esp. one that blocks someone from admission to an organization.  "We are hoping he can join our club, but it only takes two votes to blackball new applicants."

Black box - Electronic device to measure the performance of an aircraft or other vehicle.  "They could not determine why the plane crashed until the black box was recovered."

Black cloud - A problem or worry.  "He always looks like there's a black cloud hanging over him."

Black Dog day - Melancholy, depression.  "Sir Winston [Churchill] never had a Black Dog day at La Pausa."

Black Friday - The Friday after the U. S. Thanksgiving Day holiday. A major Christmas shopping day and so-called "...because it's the day retailer balance sheets move out of the red and into the black..." (CNN.com, Nov. 29, 2002). "If we don't make up our losses after Black Friday, we'll have to close the store."

Black humor - Juxtaposition of sad or depressing issues with comical ones so as to shock or disturb.  "Hollywood often uses black humor films such as "Dr. Strangelove" to describe the folly of military policy."

Blackleg - Replacement workers used during a strike.  "They could keep the factory open only by using blacklegs."

Black list - List of disapproved persons or organizations.  "In the 1950s a number of Hollywood actors were blacklisted because they were suspected of being Communists."

Black look - A look of disapproval.  "Every time she mentioned painting the house, he gave her a black look."

Blackmail - Extortion (verb).  "Because he had the photographs he was able to blackmail her."

Blackmail - Extortion (noun).  "Because he had the photographs she was subject to blackmail."

Black market - Illegal selling of goods, services, currency, etc.  "He was arrested for selling cigarettes on the black market."

Blackout - Loss of electricity.  "All the food in the refrigerator spoiled because of the blackout."

Blackout - Loss of memory.  "The blackout happened when he fell and hit his head."

Blackout - Censorship.  "We were unable to find out who planted the bomb because of the news blackout."

Blackout - Concealment of lighting.  "It was hard for the aircraft to hit their targets at night because of the blackout."

Black sheep - Considered disgraced or disapproved.  "Because of her tattoo she was the black sheep of the family."

Black side - Seeing only the bad feaatures of something.  "His problem is that he always looks on the black side of things."

Black Thursday - Oct. 24, 1929.  "The Great Depression began on Black Thursday."

Blacktie- Formal attire.  "Dress for the wedding is strictly black tie."

In the Black - Financially solvent.  "Lee earns a thousand dollars a week. He's always in the black."

The pot calling the kettle black - Something dirty or unclean saying that something (or someone) else is dirty.  "For Adolph Hitler to call Joseph Stalin a dictator is like the pot calling the kettle black."


BLUE
blue or blues - Sad, depressed.  "He was really blue after losing his job." OR "He really had the blues after losing his job."  Also: Pink slip blues - sad over losing a job.

Blues - Slow, mournful music, esp. from U. S. southern Black American secular songs.  "Why don't you come with us to the Musicale Club tomorrow night--it's Blues Night and the music will be great!"

Blue blood - Royalty, aristocratic.  "We could tell they were blue bloods by the way they talked to us."

Blue book - Register or list of prominent persons.  "It was a real "society" wedding-everyone invited was in the blue book."

Blue book - Specialized information issued by the government.  "The Transportation Department's blue book contained the new automobile safety specifications."

Blue book - School examination booklet.  "You MUST complete the test using a blue book."

Blue book - Booklet with used car prices.  "The insurance company would pay no more than the blue book value to repair the damage."

Blue chip - Dependable, high quality.  "Even though the stock market fell sharply, the blue chip stocks held their value."

Blue-collar - Laborer.  "The blue-collar workers voted to form a union."

Blue dog Democrat - one who is moderate or conservative.

Blue funk - Depressed.  "She was in a blue funk after losing her boyfriend."

Blue law - Laws limiting sales on Sunday or the Sabbath.  "He could not buy beer in town because of its blue laws."

Blue Monday - Rough day.  "I started the day by declaring it a Blue Monday."

Blue moon - Relatively long period of time.  "He only cleans his room once in a blue moon."

Blue movie - Movie with explicit sex.  "They went to the red-light district to see a blue movie."

Blue nose - A puritanical person.  "She doesn't dance or sing or have any fun; she's a real blue nose."

Blue ribbon - First prize.  "She won a blue ribbon for her apple pie."

Blue ribbon - First rate, high quality.  "The mayor appointed a blue-ribbon committee to investigate the charges of police corruption."

Blue stockings - A woman with strong literary or scholarly connections.  "She was well-known for her blue-stockings salons-all the most famous writers and critics came at one time or another."

Blue streak - Non-stop.  "When I asked her about her boyfriend she talked a blue streak."

Blue-pencil - Edit (verb).  "As soon as you blue pencil the draft I will take it over for typing."

Out of the blue - Surprise.  "The news of the factory's closing came out of the blue. No one was expecting it."

True-blue - Loyal, faithful.  "One nice thing about dogs is that they make true-blue companions."

Blue in the face - Sad, dejected.  "After the breakup with her boyfriend, she was really blue in the face."


BROWN
Brown bag - Take a lunch to work.  "I have to brown bag it these days--am watching my money!"

Brown nose - Flattering someone in a position of power to obtain favors.  "He is a real brown-noser: always running errands for the boss, getting her coffee, and jumping at every little thing."

Brown-out - Partial loss or reduction of electricity.  "Because of the heat wave, the electrical company initiated a series of rolling brown-outs."

Brown shirts - Fascists or Nazis - "They will do anything to further their cause; they are brown shirts."

Brown study - Serious review or look.  "The details of the two companies merger required a brown study."


GOLD
Golden handshake - Lucrative severance package (Note 1).  "After the merger, the president was offered a golden handshake to resign his position."

Golden opportunity - Fantastic chance.  "Buying land at these prices is a golden opportunity to invest in the future."

Golden parachute - Lucrative severance package (Note 2).  "His sudden departure from the company was cushioned by a golden parachute."

NOTE 1: "Buy-out" arrangements made after a person has been hired.
NOTE 2: Arrangements included in the hiring contract.


GRAY
Gray - Dated, old.  "Her ideas about morality on television were gray--she's definitely living in the 50's."

Gray area - Unclear, easily disputed.  "Whether or not they could camp in the park was a gray area of the law."

Gray matter - The brain, intelligence.  "You can figure out the problem if you just use your gray matter."


GREEN
Green around the gills - New, inexperienced.  "He's still learning the office procedures-he's green around the gills."

Green with envy - Jealous.  "When she saw the two of them together she was green with envy."

Green - New, inexperienced.  "He's doing the best he can but he is still green."

Green light - Approval.  "The bank gave us the loan! Now we have the green light to start the project!"

Green Monday:
- An online retail industry term similar to Cyber Monday. The term was coined by eBay to describe their best sales day in December, traditionally the 2nd Monday of December. Green Monday is defined more specifically by business research organization comScore as the Monday with at least 10 days prior to Christmas. In 2009, $854 Million was spent online in the US on Green Monday.
- In Greece and Cyprus is the movable feast day known elsewhere in the Greek Orthodox Church as Clean Monday, the first day of Lent - approximately 7 weeks before Easter. Traditionally families go to fields to barbecue fasting foods such as vegetables and seafood (not meat), later flying kites and playing other games.
- Also refers to a network of sustainable development practitioners in the UK, which meets on the first Monday of every month in London to discuss critical environmental issues affecting business and industry. Climate change is a major theme.

Having a green thumb - Able to make plants grow easily.  "Look at her garden-she really has a green thumb."

Starting to green up - Spring has arrived.  "It's been a long, cold winter; I'm glad things are starting to green up."

Grass is always greener [on the other side of the fence] - Something or someplace where things are (or imagined to be) better.  "When he was given extra responsibilities at his new job, he realized the grass isn't always greener on the other side."


PINK
Pink-collar - Women workers.  "Although men ran the factory, most of the work was performed by pink-collar workers."

Pink elephants - Dreaming or hallucinating.  "If you think the bank is going to give you the loan, you are seeing pink elephants."

In the pink - Healthy.  "After being sick for so long, it's great to be in the pink again."

Pink Lady - An alcoholic drink.  "We all ordered beers, except Bev wanted a Pink Lady."

Pink slip - Termination notice from a job.  "After the companies merged, five hundred people got the pink slip."  Also: Pink slip blues - sad over losing a job.

Pinkies - Little fingers.  "She has beautiful hands and really long pinkies."

Tickled pink - Very happy.  "When they won the soccer game they were tickled pink."


PURPLE
Purple with rage - Suffused with blood.  "She was so angry she was purple with rage."

Born to the purple - Of imperial status.  "He felt he could do anything he wanted because he was born to the purple."

Purple passion - An Alcoholic drink.  "Everyone else ordered martinis, but he ordered a purple passion."

Purple prose - Embellished, showy, elaborate.  "Her novel was interesting but it contained too much purple prose."

Raised to the purple - Refers to appointment as a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. [This is technically incorrect, as Cardinals wear scarlet; it appears to refer to their appointment as "royalty" within the Church.] - "Englishmen raised to the purple"; John Adamson on the select few appointed to the `Sacred College of Cardinals', the body which elects the Pope. (London, Sunday Telegraph, 8/19/2001)


RED
In the red - Losing money.  "The audit proved the company was in the red."

Out of the red - NOT losing money.  "It took the company three years to get out of the red."

Seeing red - Upset, angry.  "The stockholders were seeing red over the company's losses."

Red carpet - Special treatment or ceremony.  "When the movie star visited, our town rolled out the red carpet. There was a parade and a special dinner in her honor."

Paint the town red - Celebrate!  "After I got the promotion my wife and I went out and painted the town red!"

See red - Get angry.  "Every time I think of the time I wasted on that girl I see red!"

Red cent - Nothing, useless.  "Frankly, I wouldn't give one red cent for her opinion."

Red-eye - Late night airplane flight.  "I'm taking the red-eye home tonight, so I'll be in the office late tomorrow."

Red-faced - Embarassed.  "Boy was I red-faced when I found out she was married!"

Red-faced - Embarassed.  "Boy was my face red when I found out she was married!"

Red flag - Cause anger.  "Mentioning her ex-husband to her is like waiving a red flag."

Red-handed - In the act of doing something (usually wrong or illegal).  "He was caught red-handed stealing the car."

Red herring - Something that draws attention away from a central issue.  "The councilman brings up some red herring every time the budget is to be discussed."

Red hot - Very recent or explosive
  1. "That information about the stock split is red hot."
  2. "When first made public, the revelations about President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were red hot political news."

Red hots - Small spicy candies.  "You can choke if you eat too many of those red hots at one time."

Red-letter day - Very special.  "The day they got married was truly a red-letter day."

Red light - Rejection, disapproval.  "She was very upset when her vacation request got a red light."

Red light district - Area for prostitution.  "The guys wanted some "excitement" so they went to the red light district."

Red meat - Beef.  "Chicken is okay once in a while, but I prefer red meat."

Red neck - Someone from the country or backwoods.  "You can tell by the old truck he drives that he is a real red neck."

Red tag sale - Special discounts.  "We must go to Macy's this weekend-they have a great red tag sale."

Red tape - Bureaucracy.  "Every time you need a visa, you have to go through a lot of red tape. It's not easy and it takes a lot of time."


ROSE
Rose-colored - Cheerful, naive, overly optimistic.  "She looks at the world through rose-colored glasses."

Rosy - Bright, optimistic.  "He always has such a rosy outlook on life!"


SCARLET
Scarlet - Grossly or glaringly offensive.  "We enjoyed the rock concert but didn't like the scarlet clothing the performers wore."


SILVER
Silver lining - Good amidst the bad.  "Every black cloud has a silver lining."

Silver spoon - Luxury, rich.  "He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth."


WHITE
White-collar - Management.  "The '40-hour workweek' does not apply to white-collar workers."

White elephant - Useless, hard to maintain.  "The house was beautiful and large but a real white elephant."

White flag - Surrender.  "After the last charge, the defending troops had to show the white flag."

White heat - Very hot; intense.  "When the labor negotiators started to discuss salaries, the talks became white hot."

White lie - Trivial, harmless or well-intentioned untruth.  "When he told her she looked 'very nice' it was a white lie."

White paper - Official policy document.  "The government's guidelines on immigration were outlined in the white paper released yesterday."

White as a sheet - Scared.  "After the robbery, they were as white as a sheet."

White tie - Very formal attire.  "Because the King and Queen would be present, dress for the party was to be white tie."

Whitewash - Gloss over.  "The report on the company's financial problems was clearly a white wash."

White meat - Pork, some parts of chicken, turkey & other birds.  "I do not eat beef but I can eat white meat."

White sale - time when linens and bedding are sold at a discount.  "We needed new sheets but decided to wait for the white sale."


YELLOW
Yellow - Afraid, cowardly.  "Go ahead and jump--or are you yellow?"

Yellow-bellied - extremely afraid or timid.  "He is a yellow-bellied coward and will never defend himself."

Yellow dog Democrat - One who would vote for a "yellow dog" before voting for a Republican.

Yellow journalism - Sensationalism, exaggeration.  "The newspaper was well-know for its yellow journalism."

Yellow light - Caution.  "When he began to present the budget, he got a yellow light from the looks on their faces."

Yellow Peril (derogatory) - Exaggerated fear of the Chinese population.  "If we don't keep up our defenses in the Pacific, we will be flooded by the Yellow Peril."

Yellow streak - Cowardly.  "He should have confronted her, but he has a yellow streak down his back."




OTHER RELATED SAYINGS:
Flying colors - Great success.  "He passed the bar exam with flying colors and took us all out to dinner."

Off color - Risque, vulgar.  "He was well-known for telling off-color jokes."

Horse of a different color - Unusual or strange; completely different.  "If you want to go to London or Paris that's one thing, but if you want to go to New Delhi or Katmandu that's a horse of a different color."

Color me out - Not interested.  "I hope you have a great trip, but color me out.



REFERENCES:
http://www.eslcafe.com
http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/color.idioms.html
http://mypage.channeli.net/chulmin/e/i1.htm  [NOTE: When the gray box pops up for Korean Text Display Support, click "Cancel" and the English text page will load.]
 http://www.m-w.com

Jim Bottoms
email: Jiminflorence@hotmail.com
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