This document provides definitions and examples for common English idioms and expressions that use different colors. It explains the meanings of 15 different idioms using colors such as red, black, green, white, blue, and yellow. For each idiom, it gives the meaning and provides an example sentence to illustrate how that idiom is used. The idioms cover a range of meanings related to appearance, permission, location, simplification, emotions, and more.

1. IDIOMS
AND
EXPRESSIONS
WITH
COLORS

2. Put each of the following colors in the correct gap.
Some colors are used more than once:
red, black, green, white, blue, yellow
1. What a beautiful car! I'm ___________ with
envy.
2. She was such a difficult child that her family always
treated her like a __________ sheep.
3. We're looking for a new home in the ____________
belt.
4. It's not quite as __________and _________ as
you think.
5. Try to cheer Susan up. She is feeling pretty
____________ these days.

3. 6. I had to tell a _________ lie in order to
get accepted into the program.
7. Jack gave me the _____________ light on
the project.
8. They caught the thief _______________-
handed.
9. The news came out of the _____________.
It was a real shock to us all.
10. I only go there once in a
________________ moon.
11. It's his first week in the job, so he's really
__________.

4. 12. A __________ letter day is a special
one.
13. A person who is very concerned
about the environment is
__________.
14. Forms, paperwork and bureaucracy
are sometimes called _________
tape.
15. You are such a _______________ -
bellied that all the horror movies
scare you.

5. IDIOMS
WITH
BLUE

6. TO APPEAR/HAPPEN OUT OF THE
BLUE
MEANING: to happen very suddenly and
unexpectedly.
EXAMPLE:
"My brother suddenly appeared out of the
blue yesterday. We hadn't seen him for
years”.
IDIOM NUMBER 9

7. TO LOOK / FEEL BLUE
MEANING: to look / feel depressed or sad.
EXAMPLE:
"Things are looking blue for Tom these days.
His wife has left him.“
IDIOM NUMBER 5

8. ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
MEANING: to occur extremely rarely or only
once in a while.
EXAMPLE:
“My brother only phones home once in a blue
moon”.
IDIOM NUMBER 10

9. TO HAVE BLUE BLOOD
MEANING: the blood of a noble or wealthy or
aristocratic family
EXAMPLE:
“Many of the blue bloods of the town went to
the opening of the opera”.

10. IDIOMS
WITH
GREEN

11. TO BE GREEN
MEANING: inexperienced, immature, but also
concerned about the environment
EXAMPLE:
“He is rather green and doesn’t have enough
experience to drive the company”.
IDIOM NUMBER 11 and 13

12. GREEN WITH ENVY
MEANING: full of envy, very jealous.
EXAMPLE:
“I was green with envy when I heard that she
would be going to London for a month while I
had to stay and work”.
IDIOM NUMBER 1

13. GIVE SOMEONE THE GREEN LIGHT
MEANING: give permission to go ahead with
a project.
EXAMPLE:
“We were finally given the green light to
begin setting up the new project”.
IDIOM NUMBER 7

14. GREEN BELT
MEANING: an area of fields and trees around a
town.
EXAMPLE:
“The city has a policy of increasing the green
belt around the city”.
IDIOM NUMBER 3

15. IDIOMS
WITH
RED

16. RED - LETTER DAY
MEANING: a special occasion.
EXAMPLE:
“The day I finish the University, it will be a
red-letter day”
IDIOM NUMBER 12

17. RED TAPE
MEANING: Official forms and procedures,
especially those that are complex and time-
consuming.
EXAMPLE:
“There's so much red tape involved in approving
our remodeling that we're tempted to
postpone it indefinitely”.
IDIOM NUMBER 14

18. TO CATCH SOMEONE RED-HANDED
MEANING: to catch someone in the act of
committing a crime, usually a theft.
EXAMPLE:
" The manager caught the new employee red-
handed taking money out of the box."
IDIOM NUMBER 8

19. A REDNECK
MEANING: an ignorant, insensitive person.
EXAMPLE:
"Our new co-worker is a real redneck. He
doesn’t seem to know anything about life."

20. RED IN THE FACE
MEANING: embarrassed.
EXAMPLE:
“I became red in the face when the teacher
asked me a question”.

21. IDIOMS
WITH
WHITE

22. WHITE AS A GHOST
MEANING: very pale because of fear, shock,
illness etc.
EXAMPLE:
“My sister became white as a ghost when she
saw the man at the window”.

23. A WHITE LIE
MEANING: a harmless lie, told to be polite or
to do something not seriously wrong.
EXAMPLE:
“I told my boss a white lie and said that I was
sick yesterday when actually I wasn’t”.
IDIOM NUMBER 6

24. IDIOMS WITH
BLACK,
BLACK AND
WHITE

25. BLACK SHEEP (OF THE FAMILY)
MEANING: a person who is a disgrace or
embarrassment to a family or group, not always in a
bad way.
EXAMPLE:
“I am the black sheep in my family and the only
member who has not had a successful career and
life”.
IDIOM NUMBER 2

26. BLACK AND WHITE
MEANING: either good or bad, either one way
or the other way, oversimplified.
EXAMPLE:
“Our boss sees everything in black and white”.
IDIOM NUMBER 4

27. IDIOMS
WITH
YELLOW

28. YELLOW-BELLIED
MEANING: means that someone is very
cowardly or scared.
EXAMPLE:
“You are a yellow-bellied coward and no one is
scared of you”.
IDIOM NUMBER 15