Colour

Many everyday expressions in English are made from colors.We say we are "in the pink": when we are in the good health. It is easy to understand how this expression was born. When the face has a nice fresh, pink color, it's a sign my health is good. If I look pale and gray, I may need a doctor.

Red is a hotter color than pink. And Americans use it to express heat. In English, the small hot peppers found ini many Mexican foods are called "red hot." for their color and their fiery taste. We say that fast, fiery music is "red hot" especially the kind called "Dixieland Jazz".

Blue is a cooler color. The traditional blues music of American blacks is opposite of red hot music. It is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a faamous song, Mood Indigo, about the deep blue color, indigo. In the words of the song, "You ain't been blue till you've had that Mood Indigo". To be "blue", of course, is to be sad.

While the color green is natural for trees, it is an unnatural color for humans. When someone does not feel well, someone who is seasick, for excample, we say he looks green. When someone is angry because he does not have what someone else has, we say he is "green with envy". Some people are "green with envy" becouse someone else has more dollars, or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks becouse that's the color of the back side of the money.

The color black is often us in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a "black day". A blacklist" is illegal now, but at one time, some employers shared blacklists of people who shouls not be given work.

In same cases, colors just describe a situation. A "black out" in world war II, was when all lights were turn off to make it difficult for bomber planes to find their target at night. A "brown out" is an American expression for reduced electrical power which make elctric light dim.
American women use the Frech word for red as the name of the colored cosmetic which they some times use to brighten their cheecks. It's just called "rouge". They use in especially when they are going out for the evening, or as American say "to paint the town red".
A person's skin may become yellow as a result of diseases that attack the liver. Yellow fever is one. In the past, ships carrying yellow fever victims raised a flag called the "yellow jack".In the United States, an activist organization of older people calls itself the "gray panthers". The name comes from the gray hair of its members and from the panther, a fierce animal of the cat family.