The Palette of Slang: How Colors Influence English

Colors make up a big part of slang and give us many creative adjectives and expressions. Any foreigner will probably hear at least one of these phrases within their first few days in an English-speaking country.

Black as the night – extremely dark
The cave was black as the night, with no light reaching inside.

Black out – to faint
She blacked out when she heard the shocking news about the accident.

Blue – sad, depressed
After hearing the sad news, he looked so blue.

Out of the blue – without warning, out of nowhere
Out of the blue, she received a call from an old friend she hadn’t spoken to in years.

Gray area – unclear and uncertain issue
The question of privacy in social media is often seen as a gray area.

Gray matter – intelligence, brains
You’ll need to use your gray matter to solve this complex puzzle.

Green thumb – to have a talent for gardening and making plants grow
She doesn’t have a green thumb, so all her houseplants eventually die.

Green with envy – exceedingly envious
When she saw her friend’s new car, she felt green with envy.

The grass is always greener on the other side – situations always seem better other than where one is
He decided to switch jobs, but soon realized that the grass is always greener on the other side.

Pinky – one’s little finger
My pinky finger got stuck in the door, and it hurt for days.

Purple passion – an intense passion
His purple passion for painting was evident in every piece of art he created.

Beet red – very red
The sunburn left him beet red after a long day at the beach without sunscreen.

Catch someone red-handed – to discover someone in the process of committing a dishonest act
She was caught red-handed taking money from the cash register

Paint the town red – to go partying
For her birthday, she wanted to paint the town red and enjoy a night full of dancing and fun.

Red tape – excessive and seemingly unnecessary procedures
here’s a lot of red tape to deal with when starting a new business in this city.

White as a ghost – pale, usually due to fear
When he saw the car accident, he turned white as a ghost.

White elephant – a small object of little value that just collects dust in one’s home
Her attic is full of white elephants from her travels, things she never really needed.

White lie – a trivial lie which is used to get someone out of a difficult situation or to spare one’s feelings
She didn’t want to go to the party, so she told a white lie about feeling unwell.

Yellow – cowardly
He was called yellow by his friends for not joining them on the roller coaster.

These colorful expressions are just a few examples of the many you’ll encounter when learning English. They add vibrancy and nuance to the language, allowing you to express yourself in creative and varied ways. To get more familiar with these and many other expressions, try taking notes as you hear them. Whenever you hear or read a new expression, write it down with its meaning and an example. Revisiting these notes regularly will help reinforce them in your memory.

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