Hello everyone.
In this episode. Let’s talk about colors, well, colors and color idioms of course. I’ve heard men don’t distinguish colors as well as women do. I’m not sure how true that is for all men and of course women, but I know this that I can distinguish colors. I might not have the right word for it, but, hell, I get the difference. My friends, regardless of their gender, also seem to have a pretty decent perception of what colors are, because when we see different colors in nature, we seem to agree that we see a specific color. There might be a few people who don’t see colors the way they are, or as accurately as others, but there’s a consensus of opinion when it comes to main colors; unless there’s a disorder of some sort as I said. That’s just something I always wanted to say, and I’m happy I got it off my chest.

Apart from being able to tell them apart, I know some expressions to share with you, too, in which colors are used to represent or perhaps evoke a certain emotion. let’s just get to them.

Let me tell you a story . After everything was over, and he knew he could never see her, He was feeling so blue, his eyes wide open, tears streaming down his face, a gaping mouth, and silent whimpering that would melt your heart. He would stare out the window for hours unconsciously with an expectant look as if waiting for someone to come and shake the bad dream off of him. It was all like a nightmare; there was no beginning , but an utter end.

You see in the example above feel blue simply means to feel sad. The poor guy was just too sad that things ended between him and the girl he must have loved. Honestly, the color blue specially its darker shades make me feel sad, too.

But it wasn’t the end of his bad luck streak. He went to work and out of the blue got his pink slip. They said there wasn’t enough work there, but he didn’t believe it. He knew the manager’s son was unemployed, so he did the math. He didn’t have it in him to get up to his feet and protest, so he just went back home, sat down, and got lost in reverie. When he came to himself and realized that his love life was in a shambles and that he was without a job, he decided to take action.

to get your pink slip means, to be dismissed from one’s work which comes from the pink paper which some notices of dismissal were formerly written on. This poor guy lost his job out of the blue. He was not at all expecting it. This expression uses the clarity of the blue skies metaphorically in order to imply that as the blue skies give no news of rain or anything unpredictable, you don’t expect things to happen out of the blue (skies).

He went to a therapist and spent a large sum of money to get himself taken care of, but it was to no avail. He saw red upon hearing the word therapist. He had developed a built-up grudge towards therapists. When someone advised that he see their therapists, he would give them a condescending look with his head bowed slightly down, a long face, and a spiteful grimace. He was angry at the world, and the humanity and blamed everyone for things that are not right. He always believed that a single man is god-like capable of doing extraordinary things and here he was mad at others for everything that went wrong. A perfectionist, people called him, but he believed that all he wanted was his simple rights, or at least what he thought were.

You see, our dude is angry here, and sees red. Which means to be berserk, enraged, furious, or simply very very angry.

For most people this built up anger may turn into resentment, and hatred, but not for this guy. He saw right through things. He had a sharp mind, an analytical one. He was a kind of character you could never fool twice. He gathered all his strength, and rose to his feet, reinvented himself, revised some of his principles, and made a few adjustments in his life and from then on he was set. In no more than 2 years, his book was a worldwide success. Now his business is in the black, and he is doing well for himself. He has a net-worth of some million dollars. His psychological scars have all blossomed into a hardened soul that he takes pride in, and he is finally doing what he’s always wanted, making the world a better place.

Now I’m happy for our hero to have finally achieved success, because well he’s turned into an established writer and a successful businessman, because his business is in the black, which means he is making more money than he is spending.

I did my best to tell a story, and help you out with some expressions. There are a lot more idioms with colors but that would be too much I figured. I hope you won’t think the story was cheesy. We love comments, so please do send your comments to us at podcast@lingophoenix.com.

PodcastTranscript

Download the Color Idioms List & PDF Worksheets
PDF Color Idioms PDF

The idiom worksheets and games are also free to download.

Download and print the PDFs.
Use the materials for interactive learning activities in class.
Students can also complete the worksheets to review or for self-study.

Color Idiom Worksheets for ESL Students
PDF Worksheet A: Defining Idioms & Writing Sentences with Idioms

PDF Worksheet B: Reading Idioms in Context & Describing Meanings

Fun Color Idiom Games for the Classroom
PDF Color Idioms Crossword

PDF Color Idioms BINGO

PDF Color Idioms Checklist (for BINGO)