COLOUR IDIOMS

whiter than white – (BrE) used about someone who is always honest and always does what is morally right, so that they sometimes seem too good to be believed:

Journalists revealing the abuse of political power are the cinema’s new whiter than white heroes. // They’re so boring, these New Labour MPs, always trying to be whiter than white.

white as a sheet – (infml) pale with fear or illness: When he came out of the dentist’s he was as white as a sheet.

white collar – of people who work in offices or at professional jobs, rather than doing hard or dirty work with their hands

*Cf.: blue-collar –of or concerning workers who hard and dirty work with their hands; pink-collar – (esp. AmE) of or concerning a job of fairly low rank such as those of secretaries, waitresses, typists, clerks, etc. that are usu. Taken by women

white elephant – something that is useless and unwanted, esp. something that costs a lot of money:

white hope – (sometimes humour or derog) the person who is expected to bring great success: Donald is our great white hope for the future.

white horse (also whitecap) – a wave at sea with a white top:

white knight – a person or organization that puts money into a business company to save it from being taken over by another company:

white lie – a harmless lie, e.g. one told so as not to hurt someone else:

the White Pages – (in the US) a book (directory) of all of the names of people in a particular area who have telephones, and their telephone numbers and usu. Addresses: Look her up in the local white pages.

*Cf: the Yellow Pages – a book that contains telephone numbers and addresses of firms and similar organizations in an area, divided up according to the kind of business they do: Can you find a plumber in the Yellow Pages?

in black and white:

1) If a fact, argument or promise is in black and white it is written down so that everyone can see exactly what it is:

I looked at the lease and it’s there in black and white – we are not allowed to keep pets. // If you lend someone money, get the arrangement down in black and white, including a date for repayment.

2) If you see, judge or describe a situation in black and white, you think about it in a way that seems too simple, as if everything and everyone in it was either completely good or completely bad:

Children see things in black and white, and so the stories in comics are about good people and bad people. // Everything is black and white with her. You can’t ask her to see the subtleties of the situation.

be in the black – to have money in your bank account:

Peter said that the company was still in the black, but it would probably have to make job cuts. // As long as your account is at least $ 50 in the black, you will not have to pay bank charges.

*Cf: in the red – to have no money in your bank account:

The plant continued operating in the red, until the board of directors finally shut it down. // He is $ 800,000 in the red.

not as black as he/she is painted – (old-fashioned) used in order to say that someone is not as bad as people think they are:

I’ve never met Stuckwell, but I should think he’s probably not as black as he’s painted.

to look black – be very bad, threatening or hopeless:

According to the latest sales figures, things look very black for us.

to paint a black picture of – to present something in a bad, threatening or hopeless way: She painted a black picture of the company’s prospects.

to black smth out – to prevent (news or information) from becoming publicly known: They blacked out all reports of the anti-government demonstration. // He blacked the terrible accident out of his mind.

black sheep – someone who is thought by other members of their group to be a failure or to have brought shame on the group: He’s the black sheep of the family.

black spot – (esp. BrE) 1) a part of the road where many accidents have happened; 2) any place or area of serious trouble or difficulties:

The city is one of Britain’s worst unemployment black spots.

black and blue – (having the skin) darkly discoloured as the result of being hit, esp. repeatedly; bruised: After the fight, he was black and blue all over.

in a blue funk – (old-fashioned) very unhappy or worried about something:

He seems to be in the blue funk about school or something, I can’t get him to talk to me.

out of the blue – if something happens or someone does something out of the blue, you have no reason to expect it and it surprises you:

We got a donation of $ 300, out of the blue, from a local company. // The man I was interviewing asked me out of the blue if I’d go out to dinner with him.

bolt from the blue – about something unexpected and unpleasant: His sudden death came as a bolt from the blue.

true-blue – infml 1) completely loyal or faithful to certain principles: She’s a true-blue environmentalists.

green around the gills (AmE) (green about the gills BrE) – (old-fashioned) looking sick or pale because you are shocked, afraid or ill:

Her description of a medieval feast left her audience green around the gills.

green with envy – used in order to say that someone is very upset or annoyed because they wish they had someone’s possessions, abilities, success, etc:

I know healthcare workers in other parts of the country who are green with envy at the opportunities we’ve had here in Oxfordshire. // Modern surveillance technology would make even James Bond green with envy.

the rub of the green – (BrE) good luck in the game involving a ball ; (often used in newspapers, magazines, on TV news, etc:

West Ham seems to have got the rub of the green at the moment – let’s hope it lasts. // A team which fails to get into the semifinals by only one point may be lacking more than the rub of the green.

the yellow brick road – a road which leads to a place where a person can find something good (* from the story The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, in which Dorothy and her friends have to follow the yellow brick road to find the wizard who will help them)

yellow-bellied – (derog sl) not brave; cowardly:

yellow alert – (a condition of readiness to deal with) a situation of great danger. It is less serious than red alert*: After a number of terrorist acts the US citizens were put on the yellow alert.

red alert – (a condition of readiness to deal with) a situation of sudden great danger: The hospital services have been put on red alert.

be like a red rag (BrE)/a red flag (AmE) to a bull – infml to be likely to cause uncontrollable anger: She’s an ardent feminist, so jokes about women are like a red rag to a bull to her.

in/into/out of the red – in/into/out of debt: Your account is in the red.

red carpet – a special ceremonial welcome to an important guest, sometimes involving laying a red carpet on the ground for the guest to walk on: We’ll roll out the red carpet when the President comes. / We’ll give him the red-carpet treatment.

(not to give) a red cent – (AmE) infml a very small amount of money: I wouldn’t give you a red cent for that old clunker. / not worth a red cent.

a red-letter day – a specially happy day that will be remembered: It was a red-letter day for us when Paul came home from the war.

in the pink – (old-fashioned) feeling very healthy: The health visitor says you have to go off to the country to get in the pink again.

be tickled pink – (also be tickled to death) to be very pleased that something has happened (used esp. in newspapers, magazines, etc):

Polly Draper’s mother was tickled pink that her daughter was finally getting married. // Most Democrats say in public that they are tickled pink to have Al Gore as their vice-president, but how many really mean it?

look at/ see/ view the world through rose-coloured spectacles/ glasses – usu. Derog to see the world, life, etc. as better and more pleasant than they really are: Darby’s going to get hurt one day because she always sees the world through rose-coloured glasses.

to brown-bag – AmE to bring one’s lunch to work usu. In a brown paper bag: I’m brown-bagging this week.

be browned-off with – BrE infml annoyed and discouraged; fed-up: I got browned-off with waiting and went home.

brown goods – BrE electrical goods brought to provide entertainment, such as TVs, home computers, etc.: Modern life is becoming more and more comfortable with the increase of brown goods.

Cf.: white goods – linen for the house, such as sheets, towels, tablecloths, etc.