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)

C O L O R 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