Idiom Category: Colours

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Be true blue: If a person/object/situation is considered to be 'true blue', it is considered genuine.
Black and white: When it is very clear who or what is right and wrong, then the situation is black and white.
Black as Newgate's knocker: (UK) If things are as black as Newgate's knocker, they are very bad. Newgate was an infamous prison in England, so its door knocker meant trouble.
Black hole: If there is a black hole in financial accounts, money has disappeared.
Black sheep: Someone who is the black sheep doesn't fit into a group or family because their behaviour or character is not good enough.
Blackball: If you vote against allowing someone to be a member of an organisation or group, you are blackballing him or her.
Born to the purple: Someone who is born to the purple is born in a royal or aristocratic family. ("Born in the purple" is also used.)
Boys in blue: The boys in blue are the police.
Catch someone red-handed: If someone is caught red-handed, they are found doing something wrong or illegal.
Color bar: Rules that restrict access on the basis of race or ethnicity are a color bar.
Feeling blue: If you feel blue, you are feeling unwell, mainly associated with depression or unhappiness.
Go blue: If you go blue, you are very cold indeed. ('Turn blue' is an alternative form.)
Great white hope: Someone who is expected to be a great success is a great white hope.
Green around the gills: If someone looks green around the gills, they look ill.
Green fingers: (UK) Someone with green fingers has a talent for gardening.
Green light: If you are given the green light, you are given approval to do something.
Green thumb: (USA) Someone with a talent for gardening has a green thumb.
Green with envy: If you are green with envy, you are very jealous.
Green-eyed monster: The green-eyed monster is an allegorical phrase for somebody's strong jealousy
Greenhorn: A greenhorn or someone who is described simply as green lacks the relevant experience and knowledge for their job or task
Grey area: A grey/gray area is one where there is no clear right or wrong.
Grey Cardinal: Someone who is a Grey Cardinal exerts power behind the scenes, without drawing attention to himself or herself.
Grey matter: Grey/gray matter is the human brain.
Grey pound: (UK) In the UK, the grey pound is an idiom for the economic power of elderly people.
Hot as blue blazes: If something's as hot as blue blazes, it's extremely hot.
In the black: If your bank account is in credit, it is in the black.
In the pink: If you are in very good health, you are in the pink.
In the red: If your bank account is overdrawn, it is in the red.
Jet-black: To emphasise just how black something is, such as someone's hair, we can call it jet-black.
Like white on rice: (USA) If you do something like white on rice, you do it very closely: When Bob found out I had front row tickets for the concert, he stuck to me like white on rice.
Off colour: If someone looks off colour/color, they look ill.
Once in a blue moon: If something happens once in a blue moon, it happens very rarely indeed.
Out of the blue: If something happens out of the blue, it happens suddenly and unexpectedly.
Paint the town red: If you go out for a night out with lots of fun and drinking, you paint the town red.
Pink slip: If someone receives a pink slip, they receive a letter telling them they have lost their job.
Pot calling the kettle black: If someone hypocritically criticises a person for something that they themselves do, then it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Ragged blue line: (USA) This term was used to signify the Union forces (who wore blue uniforms) in the American Civil war .
Red letter day: A red letter day is a one of good luck, when something special happens to you.
Red light district: The red light district is the area of a town or city where there is prostitution, sex shops, etc.
Red mist: If someone sees red or the red mist, they lose their temper and self-control completely.
Red rag to a bull: If something is a red rag to a bull, it is something that will inevitably make somebody angry or cross.
Red tape: This is a negative term for the official paperwork and bureaucracy that we have to deal with.
Reds under the bed: An ironic allusion to the obsession some people have that there are reds (communists) everywhere plotting violent revolution.
Roll out the red carpet: If you roll out the red carpet, you treat someone in a special way, especially when welcoming them.
Rose-colored glasses: If people see things through rose-colored (coloured) glasses, they see them in a more positive light than they really are.
Rose-tinted glasses: If people see things through rose-tinted glasses, they see them in a more positive light than they really are.
Sail under false colours: Someone who sails under false colours (colors) is hypocritical or pretends to be something they aren't in order to deceive people.
Scarlet woman: This idiom is used as a pejorative term for a sexually promiscuous woman, especially an adulteress.
Scream blue murder: If someone shouts very loudly in anger, or fear, they scream blue murder.
See red: If someone sees red, they become very angry about something.
Show your true colors: To show your true colors is to reveal yourself as you really are.
Talk a blue streak: (USA) If someone talks a blue streak, they speak quickly and at length. ('Talk up a blue streak' is also used.)
Thin blue line: (UK) The thin blue line is a term for the police, suggesting that they stand between an ordered society and potential chaos. (Police uniforms are blue.)
Tickled pink: If you are very pleased about something, you are tickled pink.
Till you're blue in the face: If you do something till you're blue in the face, you do it repeatedly without achieving the desired result until you're incredibly frustrated.
True blue: A person who is true blue is loyal and dependable, someone who can be relied on in all circumstances.
True colours: If someone shows their true colours, they show themselves as they really are. ('True colors' is the American spelling.)
Under false colours: If someone does something under false colours/colors, they pretend to be something they are not in order to deceive people so that they can succeed.
Walk the green mile: Someone or something that is walking the green mile is heading towards the inevitable.
White as a sheet: A bad shock can make somebody go as white as a sheet.
White feather: If someone shows a white feather, they are cowards.
White lie: If you tell a white lie, you lie in order not to hurt someone's feelings.
With flying colours (colors): If you pass something with flying colours (colors), you pass easily, with a very high mark or grade.
Yellow press: The yellow press is a term for the popular and sensationalist newspapers.
Yellow streak: If someone has a yellow streak, they are cowardly about something.
Yellow-bellied: A yellow-bellied person is a coward.

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