Here you will learn 18 colour idioms in English. Tickled pink meaning, red herring meaning, see red meaning and more.
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list of colour idioms
Harry
18 Colour Idioms in English
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Hi there. This is Harry. Welcome back to Speak Better English with Harry podcast where I try to help you understand a little better the use of the English language by helping you and explaining English expressions, idioms, phrasal verbs and business English phrases.
So what do I have for you now? In this post we’re going to look at the colour idioms in English.
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18 Colour Idioms in English
black market
Meaning: buying and selling something illegally, particularly something that is difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise
Example:
His latest movie is not in cinemas yet but I was able to get a copy on the black market.
blackleg
Meaning: somebody who breaks the rules of a strike, somebody who is going against his fellow workers during a strike
If there’s a strike on in the local factory and everybody’s out on strike. They are picketing the factory, so they hope that no workers will cross the picket line. But if somebody crosses the picket line and goes into work because he’s being offered an incentive by the bosses, they call him a blackleg.
Example:
For three months, while the big strike of the engineers was in progress, Green, who was a blackleg, decided to work.
to get the green light
Meaning: to grant or to receive permission to do something
Well, when we’re talking about green light we’re usually referring to traffic lights and then most traffic lights. We have the sequence of red, orange, yellow are orange, yellow and green. Okay, so green is for go. So when you get the green light for a project that means green for go at everybody has agreed to go with it and you can start the project.
Example:
I submitted that project last week and the boss told me today that I got the green light to start. I’m really excited.
to be green with envy
Meaning: to have a desire to have something that somebody else has and wish you would have that
Example:
I was green with envy when I saw John new set of golf clubs.
18 Colour Idioms in English
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grey matter
Meaning: we use this expression to refer to our intellect or our brains
Example:
Why don’t you sit down or spend a few hours or even a night thinking about it using your grey matter.
Why don’t you apply your grey matter to the problem? = Why don’t you think about it?
black and white
Meaning: something that is pretty obvious, something that you can see and understand quite clearly like old-fashioned newspapers
Example:
I think it’s black and white, really. It’s quite easy to understand. It shouldn’t present any problems for anybody.
in the red
Meaning: it’s a reference to our bank accounts. So usually when we’re in the red means we have overdrawn a bank account. We have no money.
Example:
I’m in the red again. It always happens to me in the last few days of the month.
18 Colour Idioms in English
off colour
Meaning: feeling a little unwell
Example:
What’s wrong with you today? You look a little off colour.
When somebody is off colour they are not quite themselves.
once in a blue moon
Meaning: something that doesn’t happen so frequently something that doesn’t happen so often
Example:
I used to read newspapers a lot but now only get it once in a blue moon.
to paint the town red
Meaning: to go a little bit wild, to have a bit of a party and have a bit of fun
Example:
When quarantine is over, I’ll take you out and we’ll paint the town red.
red herring
Meaning: something that diverts your attention from the issue you should be concentrating on, something unimportant that distracts you
Example:
The process itself was a red herring that is unlikely to ever materialise.
We thought that was a red herring and that Claire was lying to cover up the real situation.
Red Herring Meaning
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red-letter day
Meaning: a really important day, a day when something really important is going to happen
Example:
The day Paul got promoted in the army was a red-letter day for him.
to see red
Meaning: to get really annoyed or angry or frustrated
Example:
Jack saw red when he caught his ex-wife in the arms of another man.
to be tickled pink
Meaning: to be very happy, very pleased or to be delighted with something
Example:
My mother was really tickled pink when she got flowers and chocolates on Mother’s Day.
Tickled Pink Meaning
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a white elephant
Meaning: something that is a waste of time, waste of money, something useless, unwanted or of no great value
Example:
The new factory was a white elephant project constructed at a massive cost and designed to fail.
a white-collar worker
Meaning: office workes not doing any physical work
It is a throwback to the old days of the industrial Revolution when the management wore white colours on their shirt. These were the days when the shirts had a detachable collar so you could wash and starch the colour separately to the shirt. So management, those in the offices had white colours on. And the ordinary workers had a blue collar. So it was the distinguished between the workers and the management.
Example:
Usually, white-collar workers are entitled to continued remuneration in the event of sickness.
to whitewash
Meaning: to cover up, to hide something, to try and avoid something being noticed.
Example:
The money spent on that new monument in the centre of town was a complete waste of time. I guarantee that the government would try to whitewash over that.
with flying colours
Meaning: to be really, really successful
Example:
He passed his exams with flying colours.
Probation was not a problem for him, he passed it with flying colours.
So that’s that’s our colour idioms in English.I’ll give them to you once more:
- black market
- blackleg
- to get the green light
- to be green with envy
- grey matter
- black and white
- in the red
- off-colour
- once in a blue moon
- paint the town red
- red herring
- red-letter day
- to see red
- to be tickled pink
- white elephant
- a white-collar worker
- to whitewash
- with flying colours
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18 Colour Idioms in English
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More information
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Direct and Indirect Questions in English
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