Colour idioms are a great way to brighten up your speech or writing! In this video, we look at idioms that have the colours red, pink, green, and gold.
RED
RED TAPE
This is the official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results. Another word for this is bureaucracy. When you go to one counter and they make you fill in a form, then take it somewhere else and fill in another form, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for it. It’s so frustrating!
We need to cut through the red tape and get this project finished.
I was going to apply for a credit card, but I can’t be bothered with the red tape.
Sometimes when there is so much red tape to get through it just makes me see red….
SEE RED
Which leads us to the next idiom – see red, which, you have probably already realised, is about becoming very angry.
People who leave dirty mugs in the sink just make me see red.
I think this comes from the idea of a bull angrily chasing the red cape held by a matador. Another similar expression is if something is a red rag to a bull – that thing is certain to make someone very angry.
Don’t talk to him about politics, it’s just a red rag to a bull.
IN THE RED
If you spend more money than you earn, you will probably end up in the red – in debt, owing money.
If the business continues to be in the red, we will have to close it down.
RED HERRING
If you like mystery or detective stories, then you might be familiar with this idiom.
This describes something that is misleading or that takes the attention away from the real issue. There are always red herrings in mystery stories that are designed to make you think that the wrong person committed the crime. But we can also use it in real life. The most obvious example is…
When a politician doesn’t want to talk about a particular issue, they might talk about some other issue, as a red herring to distract the media.
CAUGHT RED HANDED
If a person is caught red handed, they are found to be doing something they should not be doing, usually something illegal!
The man was caught red-handed robbing a jewellery store.
My son isn’t allowed cookies before school, but I caught him red-handed eating one.
PINK
TICKLED PINK
If I was tickled pink, would I be sad? No, I would be absolutely delighted! Very pleased. I would be over the moon – there’s another idiom that means delighted!
Bridget was tickled pink when she met her favourite pop star.
If you took me to Disneyland, I would be tickled pink.
GREEN
Look at my poor pot plants. Would you say that I have green fingers?
GREEN FINGERS
No, absolutely not! In the UK if someone says that you have green fingers, then you are very good at gardening, and your plants grow very well. In North America and Australia, you would have a green thumb.
GREEN LIGHT
If you get the Green Light on something, then, like with the traffic signal, you have permission to proceed or to continue with something, most likely a project of some kind.
The boss finally gave us the green light to start this project.
In North America they use the same term as a verb. To green-light something.
GREEN-EYED MONSTER
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster†– quote from the Shakespeare play ‘Othello’.
For hundreds of years we have used the term green-eyed monster to describe jealousy. You might say that someone has been bitten by the green-eyed monster when they behave in a jealous way.
Her husband tries to keep the green-eyed monster at bay, but he can’t control himself whenever she talks to another man.
GOLD
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Imagine this – you are a chef and you have been offered a job at a restaurant that has 3 Michelin stars. Wow! That would be a golden opportunity! A golden opportunity is an outstanding, even ideal chance to do something. A chance that doesn’t happen often and is likely to lead to success.
Businesspeople who go on the TV show ‘Dragons Den’ have a golden opportunity to find an investor.
(AS) GOOD AS GOLD
Something that is said to be as good as gold is behaving very well and not causing any problems. We most often use this when we talk about children.
My baby had a bad night, but this morning she has been as good as gold.
But sometimes we use it when something has caused some problems in the past, but now is fixed.
Harvey repaired your car and it’s as good as gold.
We can drop the first ‘as’, to make the phrase even more casual.
I broke my leg last year, but now it’s good as gold.
Comments and Questions
As always, comments and questions can be left under the video on YouTube.
Until next time!
