Tag Archive | colours

240 color names in English

From snow to jade, if you are struggling to describe a color or you just want to broaden your vocabulary.

(Although the blacks seem all the same to me.)

August 21, 2014

in General Learning, Idioms, Slang, Words, Writing
3 Comments

Talk English by colors

		WHITE
		a white lie	a harmless lie/ a lie to spare someone’s feelings
		white noise	static noise
		white as a sheet	scared, sick, surprised
		white as a ghost	scared
		white-collar	related to “desk jobs”
		a white flag	surrender
		to whitewash something	to mask the negative parts
		white wine	wine from green or yellow grapes
		a white Christmas	snow on Christmas day
		a white wedding	a traditional western-style wedding where the bride wears a white gown
		a white person	a person of Caucasian race
		white-hot	extremely hot OR popular
		a white paper	an authoritative report on a issue
		a white elephant	a useless knick-knack OR an expensive, useless thing
		white as the driven snow	innocent (often used sarcastically about corruption)
		white with rage	extremely enraged
		to bleed someone white	to take everything someone has, esp. money
		showing the white feather	acting cowardly
		a white-knuckle ride	a dangerous, nerve-wracking, scary ride
		that’s mighty white of you (old-fashioned)	that’s good of you
		lily-white	unmistakably Caucasian OR blameless, goodly
		white horses (surfing)	patches of white foam made by breaking waves
		white trash (American)	(offensive) uneducated, socio-economically disadvantaged Caucasian people
		whiter than white (British)	righteous, innocent
		BLACK a white pointer (Australian)	a topless female sunbather
		to blackmail someone	to threaten to reveal secrets unless payment is made
		to black out	to lose consciousness
		a blackout	a loss of electricity in an area
		the blackout	during wartime, extinguishing or covering lights
		black magic / the black arts	magic used for malevolent purposes
		the pot calling the kettle black	someone criticizing someone else for a quality they themselves possess
		the black market	illegal/underground sales and purchases
		little black book	book of contacts, esp. past or potential dates
		a black sheep	the outcast or disgrace in a group
		black gold	oil / petrolium
		black tie	formal clothing e.g. a tuxedo
		black humor	jokes about death or illness
		a black day	a day when something bad happens
		to be in black and white	to be written down officially
		to be black and white (a situation)	to be clear
		in the black	profitable
		a black mood	a bad, grumpy mood
		a black eye	a bruised eye
		to blacklist someone	to prevent someone from being hired
		to blackball someone	to shut someone out from group participation
		black and blue	bruised
		a black look	an angry/disapproving facial expression
		as black as night	very dark black
		pitch black	very dark black
		a black person	a person of African heritage
		black ops	extralegal covert activity, done in the dark (military/politics)
		black-hearted	cruel, evil, mean
		a black mark	an indication of wrongdoing
		to blacken someone’s name	to suggest/indicate a person’s wrongdoing
		the Black Death	The Bubonic Plague
		a black rat (British)	a traffic police officer
		Black Friday (U.S.)	The day after American Thanksgiving when many stores have sales
		the black dog (Irish)	a bad mood
		beyond the black stump (Australian)	the back of nowhere, far from anything
		RED in the red	unprofitable OR negative financial balance, owing money
		a redhead	a person with orange-colored hair
		red light district	area with prostitutes
		to see red	to be furious
		red with rage	furious
		to turn/go red	become embarrassed
		a red herring	a false clue
		to paint the town red	to dine, dance, experience fun in a town or city
		a red flag	a signal that something is wrong
		roll out the red carpet	give a big welcome
		red tape	unnecessary/excessive bureaucracy
		not one red cent	no money at all
		a red letter day	a special day
		a scarlet woman	a sinful woman
		scarlet fever	an infection with group A streptococcus bacteria.
		red-hot	very hot OR very popular
		red card	a sanction for a soccer player
		red alert	a serious warning of danger
		a red-blooded male	a virile, manly male person
		like a red rag/flag to a bull	provoking/aggravating anger
		red (adjective)	communist
		bleed red ink (British)	debt
		red in tooth and claw (British)	the wild, violent aspect of the natural world
		redshirting (U.S.)	delaying an athlete’s participation in sports order to lengthen his/her period of eligibility
		a red state (U.S.)	a state whose residents are politically more Republican
		a redneck (U.S.)	an uneducated, rural white American
		a red-bone (U.S.)	a light-skinned black woman
		the red scare (U.S.)	(historical) the worry that society would be infiltrated by communists and communism
		the red eye (U.S.)	the overnight flight between west and east coast
		GREEN green with envy	very envious
		the green-eyed monster	jealousy
		to give the green light	to give approval to proceed
		to be green (in a position)	to be inexperienced, a rookie
		to be green (policy)	to be environmentally aware
		the green room	room in a theater or studio where guests/performers wait to go on
		to turn green	to be nauseous
		green around the gills	sick-looking
		a greenbelt	an area of nature around a city
		greens	vegetables
		a green	a golf course
		a greengrocer	a person/store that sells vegetables & fruit
		the grass is always greener on the other side	other people’s possessions/situations always seem better than your own
		greener pastures	a better situation
		to greenwash something	to deceptively make practices/policies seem more environmentally friendly
		little green men	stereotypical/humorous description of space aliens
		as sure as God made little green apples	very certain
		colorless green ideas sleep furiously	(Linguistics) Noam Chomsky’s oft-quoted example of a sentence with good grammar but no meaning
		to have green fingers (British)	to be good with plants/gardens
		to have a green thumb (U.S.)	to be good with plants/gardens
		a greenie (Australian)	an environmentally aware person
		a green card (U.S.)	legal residency status
		a greenhorn (U.S.)	an inexperienced or young person
		greenbacks (U.S.)	dollars
		YELLOW yellow	cowardly
		a yellow streak	cowardice
		yellow-bellied	cowardly
		yellow journalism	disreputable, sensationalistic journalism
		a yellow card	(soccer) to give someone a first warning
		the yellow peril	(offensive, archaic) the fear that Asian people will outnumber/displace Caucasian people
		yellow fever	an acute viral haemorrhagic disease
		yellow fever (Nigerian slang)	traffic police
		a yellow dog Democrat (U.S.)	a voter who always votes Democrat in every election
		BLUE out of the blue	suddenly, unexpectedly
		a bolt from the blue	a sudden/unexpected thing
		to be blue	to be sad
		a blue funk	a feeling of melancholy
		the blues	sadness OR a 3 chord style of music
		once in a blue moon	infrequently
		blue-collar	related to manual labor or the working class
		a blue blood	an aristocratic person
		to talk a blue streak	to talk a lot
		to turn blue	to have difficulty breathing
		blue with cold	feeling very cold
		until you’re blue in the face	having lost your patience
		blue chip stock	stock of an established/financially sound company
		working blue	performing using foul language
		a blue movie	a pornographic film
		a blueprint (for something)	a design, a guide
		true blue	faithful
		blue on blue	in military: friendly fire
		into the wide/wild blue yonder	to an unknown/faraway place
		blue balls (lewd)	male sexual frustration due to unfulfilled sexual urges
		to turn the air blue	to swear a lot
		between the devil and the deep blue sea	a dilemma
		the boys in blue	the police
		the thin blue line	the police
		a blue state (U.S.)	a state whose residents are politically more Democrat
		a blue (British)	a Tory
		to scream blue murder (British)	to express yourself angrily
		a blue-eyed boy (British)	a male who can do no wrong, who is favored by authority
		having a blue (Australian)	having a fight
		make a blue (Australian)	make a mistake
		BROWN a brown-noser	a sycophant
		in a brown study	being contemplative; daydreaming
		browned off (British)	annoyed
		PURPLE purple prose	flowery, romantic writing
		born in the purple	born into a high ranking/aristocratic family
		the Purple Heart (U.S.)	a U.S. military honor badge
		a purple patch (British)	a period of exceptionally high achievement
		ORANGE agent orange	a defoliant used in herbicidal warfare
		Orangemen (Irish)	Protestant fraternal organization
		PINK in the pink of health	very healthy
		tickled pink	very pleased
		a pinko	a communist
		to see the world through rose-colored glasses	to see the world through an optimistic filter
		rosy	positive, optimistic,
		to get a pink slip	to be fired
		the pink pound (British)	consumer spending by gay people
		GREY grey area	unclear
		grey matter	the brain
		to give someone grey hairs	to try someone’s patience
		gray market	sale of products via nonstandard distribution channels or at an unofficial price
		grey nomads (Australian)	retirees who travel around the country
		the silver screen	the movies
		GOLDEN a golden boy	a well-regarded, successful man
		a golden handshake	monetary incentive to join a company
		a golden parachute	money given to an executive leaving a company
		golden ears	great listening ability to discern quality or commerciality
		a golden shower (lewd)	urinating on a sexual partner
		a golden mean	the desirable middle (between extremes of excess and deficiency)
		COLOR off-color	inappropriate, crude
		to show your true colors	to reveal your true self or feelings
		a colorless person	a boring person
		colorful (e.g. tale, history, life)	event-filled and interesting
		colorful language	vivid or expletive-filled language
		to pass with flying colors	to do very well
		local color	having typical characteristics of the local area
		color commentary	facts & comments about athletes during a broadcast
		a horse of a different color	a completely different thing/idea
		a country’s colors	the colors of a national flag

SOURCE

August 7, 2014

in Did you know?, Resources, Words, Writing
4 Comments

168 Color terms in English

Compiled by Stephen Chrisomalis

This list contains 168 definitions of obscure colour terms using combinations of ‘normal‘ colours of the rainbow and descriptive adjectives; e.g. cardinal = deep scarlet red; russet = reddish brown. Note that most English speakers outside the U.S. spell colour with the added British ‘u’ rather than the American version color. Don’t worry if the colours (or colors) in your universe don’t match up with the definitions I’ve given for these words, though – I’ve been known to have skewed perceptions of reality … Read More…