Colour Idioms

black blue (x3) brown colour(x2) green (x2) grey (x2) pink red (x3) silver white (x2) yellow

Insert the words from above into the most appropriate sentences below.

1) That company has a bad history of late payments. We need to see the _____________ of their money
before we deliver anything to them. (Evidence of intended payment)

2) They stole his bike and sold it on the __________ market. (Illegal point of sale)

3) I didn’t know that she came from ____________ blood. Somebody told me she was 25th in line to the
throne of England. (Noble birth)

4) We were convinced the killer was the butler because a silver tray was found near the body of the victim.
However, that was a ______ herring. The real killer was the Duke. (False clue. a distraction)

5) That bridge is a _____________ elephant. Nobody uses it because the road it connects to doesn’t
actually go anywhere of consequence. (Useless)

6) My grandmother is always on Facebook. She is a real _____________ surfer. (Senior internet user)

7) My account is several hundred pounds in the _________ and the bank manager wants to talk to me.
(Overdrawn)

8) She was tickled _____________ when we told her that she had been chosen to represent the school in
the competition. (Very pleased)

9) Tom has gone to the doctor. He has been looking rather off ___________ all week. (Looking ill)

10) The ethical argument for CCTV surveillance in towns and cities is a bit of a _______ area. (Unclear)

11) I always see ___________ when people mistreat animals. (Get angry)

12) Your garden is beautiful! I didn’t know that you had such _________ fingers. (Good at horticulture)

13) This is a tricky issue. It’s going to take some considerable time and __________ matter to resolve the
problem. (A lot of thinking)

14) She’s taken her son to the doctor because he was looking a bit ________ around the gills. (Unwell)

15) I explained the problem until I was ___________ in the face but she still ignored me and insisted we
did it her way. (Pointlessly argue to somebody that doesn’t listen)

16) The cops found the body but there was nothing they could do. He had been ___________ bread for at
least a day. (Dead)

17) The news of the wedding was completely out of the ___________. (Unexpected)

18) When the meeting got heated and they started shouting, he disappeared. He has always been a
____________ belly. (A coward)

20) We had to tell her a little _______________ lie when we said that Father Christmas wasn’t a made-up
person. We didn’t want to spoil her Christmas. (An innocent untruth)
 Colour Idioms: Origins Quiz
Which stories below do you think are the true origins of the expressions?
1) What is the origin of the expression “black market?”
a) In mediaeval times there used to be markets that sold coal to peasants on Sundays just after church services. These were the only
people that were allowed to work on Sundays. Many other people would also go along and sell their products illegally on Sunday. They
would put coal dust on their faces so that nobody would recognise them, hence the expression.
b) In medieval England, there were out-of-work professional soldiers, who roamed the countryside and sold their services to the highest
bidder. They were strong, experienced fighters, who lived in the wilderness. They couldn't afford the luxury of servants to polish their
armour and it would therefore go a horrible black colour. As such, they became known as black knights. At local combat tournaments,
the winner of the fight would get to claim the loser's weapons and armour. The locals would almost always lose out to these
experienced black knights. The nomadic knights didn't have much use for an extra set of armour and would sell it back to the loser
immediately after the fight, on what they called a “black market.”
c) This term originates from Germany and refers to the Black Forrest. In the 17 th century, local town halls imposed high taxes on people
that sold their products in market places. As a result, many of the merchants went out into the Black Forrest to sell their goods in secret.
They did this because it would be easy to set up look-out positions and warn the sellers before the town officials arrived to confiscate
the goods and money. These markets were very successful and attracted people from all over Europe.

2) What is the origin of the expression “blue blood?”

a) This expression originates from Medieval Spain and means the races attributed to some of the oldest and proudest families of Castile,
who claimed never to have intermarried with Moors, Jews, or other races. The expression probably originated in the blueness of the
veins of people of fair complexion as compared with those of dark skin. The expression was used to justify the noble families’ claim to
the Spanish throne.
b) This expression comes from an old Arabic story about a demon that became a king. This demon was eventually discovered because
he cut himself in front of his subjects in an accident. The people could see that his blood was blue and they then knew that he wasn’t
human. They seized the demon and burnt him to death. The expression was then used afterwards to refer to bad kings.
c) This expression comes from ancient Rome and the habit of Kings of wearing blue cloaks. Blue was an expensive colour to produce and
only kings could afford clothes dyed with this colour. When the republic of Rome was established, the old kings were referred to as blue
bloods as a kind of insult.

3) What is the origin of the expression “red herring?”

a) This expression comes from the habit of North Sea herring of trying to protect their young fish by luring away predators and bigger
fish so that they would be chased and the smaller fish would have a better chance of escaping.
b) In medieval times, when the Vikings were attacking English coastal towns, it was discovered that they liked smoked herring. The
process of smoking these herrings would produce a powerful and unmistakable smell which would always attract the Vikings who were
very hungry after their voyage across the North Sea. Some tribes would set up traps where they would start smoking fish hoping they
would attract the hungry Vikings. When the Vikings went to investigate, they would be ambushed by waiting soldiers.
c) In the 16th and 17th centuries, hunting dogs were trained to follow smells, which was difficult as some smells are very interesting to
dogs. Part of their training was to try and get them to avoid distractions by using red herrings (known as kippers, a kind of smoked fish)
set down on the trails of the things that they were tracking. Eventually they would be trained to ignore such interesting smells and to
continue sniffing out their prey.

4) What is the origin of the expression “white elephant?”

a) In Roman times, the Emperor Claudius decided it would be a good idea to use war elephants in battles against his enemies. The
elephants were difficult to train and unpredictable. In one battle, he insisted on riding into battle himself on an albino elephant. This
elephant started attacking the Romans and not the British enemy as he had planned. The elephants were then abandoned as weapons
of war.
b) During the industrial revolution, there was a large machine created to mass produce workers’ wooden shoes. The shape of this
machine was very similar to an elephant and it was very expensive to build and maintain. In the end, it turned out cheaper to produce
these shoes by hand.
c) A white (albino) elephant would be used by the Kings of ancient Siam (modern day Thailand) as a gift to subordinates that he was
unhappy with. The white elephant was seen as sacred and would be worshipped by people. The owner would have to provide its food
and enough space for it to live, which was very expensive. If the animal was badly treated it was punishable by death. This gift would
ruin people.

5) What is the origin of the expression “yellow belly?”

a) In the middle ages, people would get sick very easily on account of the poor quality of the available food. In battle, some soldiers
would not be able to fight because of bouts of “yellow belly,” in other words diarrhoea.
b) This referred to the inhabitants of The Fens in East Anglia, England, an area of marshes where the local people would often crawl
across the mud and therefore have “yellow bellies” or who were compared to eels, a snakelike fish, that also has a yellow belly.
c) In medieval times, soldiers that ran away from the fighting in battle would be found and they would be forced to wear tunics that had
yellow fronts to indicate that they had run away from a fight. These soldiers would be obliged to wear these tunics all the time and
would never be used in battle again. Many people would treat these veterans badly and would not serve them food, let them into
church, or give them work.

Follow up!
Now write five false origins for the expressions from the other page.
 Answers
1) That company has a bad history of late payments. We need to see the colour of their money before we
deliver anything to them. (Evidence of intended payment)

2) They stole his bike and sold it on the black market. (Illegal Sale)

3) I didn’t know that she came from blue blood. Somebody told me she was 25th in line to the throne of
England. (Noble birth)

4) We were convinced the killer was the butler because a silver tray was found near the body of the victim.
However, that was a red herring. The real killer was the Duke. (False trail or clue. A distraction)

5) That bridge is a white elephant. Nobody uses it because the road it connects to doesn’t actually go
anywhere of consequence. (Useless)

6) My grandmother is always on Facebook. She is a real silver surfer. (Senior internet user)

7) My account is several hundred pounds in the red and the bank manager wants to talk to me.
(Overdrawn)

8) She was tickled pink when we told her that she had been chosen to represent the school in the
competition. (Very pleased)

9) Tom has gone to the doctor. He has been looking rather off colour all week. (Looking ill)

10) The ethical argument for CCTV surveillance in towns and cities is a bit of a grey area. (Unclear)

11) I always see red when people mistreat animals. (Get angry)

12) Your garden is beautiful! I didn’t know that you had such green fingers. (Good at horticulture)

13) This is a tricky issue. It’s going to take some considerable time and grey matter to resolve the problem.
(A lot of thinking)

14) She’s taken her son to the doctor because he was looking a bit green around the gills. (Unwell)

15) I explained the problem until I was blue in the face but she still ignored me and insisted we did it her
way. (Pointlessly argue to somebody that doesn’t listen)

16) The cops found the body but there was nothing they could do. He had been brown bread for at least a
day. (Dead)

17) The news of the wedding was completely out of the blue. (Unexpected)

18) When the meeting got heated and they started shouting, he disappeared. He always has been a yellow
belly. (A coward)

20) We had to tell her a little white lie when we said that Father Christmas wasn’t a made-up person. We
didn’t want to spoil her Christmas. (An innocent untruth)
 Answers

1) What is the origin of the expression “black market?”

a) In mediaeval times there used to be markets that sold coal to peasants on Sundays just after church services. These were the only
people that were allowed to work on Sundays. Many other people would also go along and sell their products illegally on Sunday. They
would put coal dust on their faces so that nobody would recognise them, hence the expression.
b) In medieval England, there were out of work professional soldiers, who roamed the countryside and sold their services to the highest
bidder. They were strong, experienced fighters, who lived in the wilderness. They couldn't afford the luxury of servants to polish their
armour and it would therefore go a horrible black colour. As such, they became known as black knights. At local combat tournaments,
the winner of the fight would get to claim the loser's weapons and armour. The locals would almost always lose out to these
experienced black knights. The nomadic knights didn't have much use for an extra set of armour and would sell it back to the loser
immediately after the fight, on what they called a “black market.”
c) This term originates from Germany and refers to the Black Forrest. In the 17 th century, local town halls imposed high taxes on people
that sold their products in market places. As a result, many of the merchants went out into the Black Forrest to sell their goods in secret.
They did this because it would be easy to set up look-out positions and warn the sellers before the town officials arrived to confiscate
the goods and money. These markets were very successful and attracted people from all over Europe.

2) What is the origin of the expression “blue blood?”

a) This expression originates from Medieval Spain and means the races attributed to some of the oldest and proudest families of Castile,
who claimed never to have intermarried with Moors, Jews, or other races. The expression probably originated in the blueness of the
veins of people of fair complexion as compared with those of dark skin. The expression was used to justify the noble families’ claim to
the Spanish throne.
b) This expression comes from an old Arabic story about a demon that became a king. This demon was eventually discovered because
he cut himself in front of his subjects in an accident. The people could see that his blood was blue and they then knew that he wasn’t
human. They seized the demon and burnt him to death. The expression was then used afterwards to refer to bad kings.
c) This expression comes from ancient Rome and the habit of Kings of wearing blue cloaks. Blue was an expensive colour to produce and
only kings could afford clothes dyed with this colour. When the republic of Rome was established, the old kings were referred to as blue
bloods as a kind of insult.

3) What is the origin of the expression “red herring?”

a) This expression comes from the habit of North Sea herring of trying to protect their young fish by luring away predators and bigger
fish so that they would be chased and the smaller fish would have a better chance of escaping.
b) In medieval times, when the Vikings were attacking English coastal towns, it was discovered that they liked smoked herring. The
process of smoking these herrings would produce a powerful and unmistakable smell which would always attract the Vikings who were
very hungry after their voyage across the North Sea. Some tribes would set up traps where they would start smoking fish hoping they
would attract the hungry Vikings. When the Vikings went to investigate, they would be ambushed by waiting soldiers.
c) In the 16th and 17th centuries, hunting dogs were trained to follow smells which was difficult as some smells are very interesting to
dogs. Part of their training was to try and get them to avoid distractions by using red herrings (known as kippers a kind of smoked fish)
set on the trails of the things they were tracking. Eventually they would be trained to ignore such interesting smells and continue sniffing
out their prey.

4) What is the origin of the expression “white elephant?”

a) In Roman times, the Emperor Claudius decided it would be a good idea to use war elephants in battles against his enemies. The
elephants were difficult to train and unpredictable. In one battle, he insisted on riding into battle himself on an albino elephant. This
elephant started attacking the Romans and not the British enemy as he had planned. The elephants were then abandoned as weapons
of war.
b) During the industrial revolution, there was a large machine created to mass produce workers wooden shoes. The shape of this
machine was very similar to an elephant and it was very expensive to build and maintain. In the end, it turned out cheaper to produce
these shoes by hand.
c) A white (albino) elephant would be used by the Kings of ancient Siam (modern day Thailand) as a gift to subordinates that he was
unhappy with. The white elephant was seen as sacred and would be worshipped by people. The owner would have to provide its food
and enough space for it to live. If the animal was badly treated it was punishable by death. This gift would ruin people.

5) What is the origin of the expression “yellow belly?”

a) In the middle ages, people would get sick very easily on account of the poor quality of the available food. In battle, some soldiers
would not be able to fight because of bouts of “yellow belly,” in other words diarrhoea.
b) This referred to the inhabitants of The Fens in East Anglia, England, an area of marshes where the local people would often crawl
across the mud and therefore have “yellow bellies” or who were compared to eels, a snakelike fish, who also have yellow bellies.
c) In medieval times, soldiers that ran away from the fighting in battle would be found and they would be forced to wear tunics that had
yellow fronts to indicate that they had run away from a fight. These soldiers would be obliged to wear these tunics all the time and
would never be used in battle again. Many people would treat these veterans badly and would not serve them food, let them into
church, or give them work.