The theme of my work is “Colour
idioms in the English language”.
The aims of my work were:
- to improve my
language;
- to enrich my
vocabulary;
- to produce a
pack of materials for English language classes.
The methods of my work were
description and analysis.
What I did:
- I studied a
number of English sources devoted to the problem of colour idioms such as
books and Internet information.
- I systematized
and analyzed the facts and materials.
- I compiled
the glossary of colour idioms.
- I created
some exercises which can check up the pupils’ knowledge of this topic.
Idioms
are words and phrases that communicate a specific idea or meaning which might
not be easy be guessed by looking at individual words in the phrase.
English can’t be considered
full of value without idiomatic usage, as the use of idioms is the first sign
of a certain language’s developing.
Idiomatic sentences enrich a
language and the knowledge of idioms signal that the speaker knows the language
on the level of a native speaker.
English is a language
particularly rich in idioms. Without idioms English would lose much of its
variety and humour both in speech and writing.
Some idioms of the English
language have first been seen in the works of writers like Shakespeare, Sir
Walter Scott, Lewis Carroll. But the background and etymological origins of
most idioms is at best obscure.
Idioms can’t and mustn’t be
translated directly as such a brunch of language as idioms is inseparably
connected with nation’s mentality and mode of life. The contest usually helps
to understand idioms. One way to learn idioms is to put them into different
groups.
According to the words that
are used in the idioms there are, for example, animal idioms ( to pig out
– объедаться), body idioms ( sweet tooth –сладкоежка),
clothing idioms ( to keep one’s short on – пытаться сохранятьспокойствие),
food idioms ( not worth a bean – гроша ломаного не стоит), weather
idioms ( a fair-weather friend – ненадёжный друг),
geography idioms ( to make a mountain out of a molehill – делать из мухи слона),
sports idioms ( to skate on thin ice – действовать рискованно),house
idioms ( like a house on fire – быстро и легко; успешно, прекрасно),
time idioms ( to do time – сидеть в тюрьме),
talking idioms ( to talk the hind leg off a donkey – заговорить, утомить многословием),
love idioms ( to tie the knot – пожениться),
money idioms (the other side of the coin – другая сторонамедали),
colour idioms ( out of the blue – совершенно неожиданно). The
last group – colour idioms – is very numerous and interesting. That’s why it is
worth investigating.
Glossary
“Colour idioms”.
RED
to see red –
обезуметь, прийти в ярость, в бешенство.
When I hear of cruelty to
animals it makes me see red.
to have a red face –
покраснеть от стыда или от смущения.
Talking about his love he had
a red face.
to be in the red – быть должником
I am overdrawn again. I hate
being in the red.
to catch someone red-handed – заставить
кого-либо на месте преступления, поймать с поличным.
The manager caught the new
employee red-handed taking money out of the box.
to be like a red rag to a bull –
действовать на кого-либо, как красная тряпка на быка.
The mention of that man’s name
to him is like a red rag to a bull.
to paint the town red – устроить попойку, загулять.
On boat-race night the College
students paint the town red.
to go into the red – стать убыточным.
I can’t lend you money. My
firm has gone into the red.
a red herring – отвлекающий маневр.
You are not answering my
question. You are trying to draw a red herring across the track.
to see the red light –
предчувствовать приближение опасности.
As soon as he led the
conversation round to borrowing money I saw the red light.
red tape – бюрократизм, волокита.
I want to start a new business
but the red tape involved is very frustrating.
a redneck – несведущий человек.
Our new co-worker is a real
redneck. He doesn’t seem to know anything about life.
to roll out the red carpet -
приветствовать кого-либо торжественно, с большим почтением.
When Nelson Mandela visited
Washington, they rolled out the red carpet and gave him a great welcome.
to be shown the red
card - быть уволенным с работы.
The accountant was shown the
red card for hiding company money.
a red-letter day -
памятный день, день в календаре.
It’ll be a red- letter day
tomorrow.
not a red cent – ни единого цента.
I did all that work for them
and they didn’t pay me a red cent.
a red eye –
полет на самолете, который взлетает поздно ночью, а приземляется рано утром.
We took the red eye from
Seattle to New York.
to give a red face – смутить кого-либо.
We really gave him a red face
when we caught him eavesdropping.
to go beet red – покраснеть как рак.
I only had to smile at him and
he went beet red.
red ink – долги.
Too much red ink and the
company will collapse.
red-blooded –
имеющий горячую кровь, темпераментный, любвеобильный.
He is a normal, red-blooded
male – of course he wants to sleep with you!
red-hot –
свежий, новый, горячий.
Their divorce is the red-hot
story in this morning’s press.
red hair – рыжие волосы.
He likes girls with red hair.
BLUE
once in a blue moon – очень редко.
A thing like that only happens
once in a blue moon.
a blue-eyed boy – любимчик
John is a real blue- eyed boy.
The team manager always gives him special treatment. It isn’t fair to the rest
of us.
out of the blue –
совершенно неожиданно, как гром среди ясного неба.
I haven’t seen them for years
and then they call me out of the blue.
blue collar – рабочий.
They bought a house in a nice,
settled, blue-collar neighborhood.
to burn with a low blue
flame – сильно напиться.
He’s not just drunk, he’s
burning with a low blue flame.
to cuss a blue streak – грубо ругаться.
When he dropped the brick on
his toe, he cussed a blue streak.
to talk a blue streak – говорить без умолку.
Billy didn’t talk until he was
two and then started talking a blue streak.
the boys in blue – полицейские.
The boys in blue were round
again last night, asking questions.
true-blue –
очень верный, преданный.
Tom’s true-blue – he won’t let
us down.
to cry blue murder –
кричать или жаловаться очень громко.
Readers screamed blue murder
when the price of their daily paper went up.
to go into the wide
blue yonder – пойти куда глаза глядят.
I have a sudden desire to
escape, to go into the wide blue yonder and never return.
Damn it to blue blazes! – Черт возьми!
Damn it to blue blazes, I told
you I can’t lend you any more money!
to make the air blue – сквернословить.
Don’t make the air blue in my
presence!
blue study –
мрачные раздумья, тяжелые мысли.
Blue study again? Don’t be so
boring.
to blue-pencil something –
редактировать, сокращать, вычеркивать.
Reports on the mistreatment of
the political prisoners were blue-penciled by the authorities.
a bolt from the blue – полная неожиданность.
It came like a bolt from the
blue that they are getting divorced.
blue in the face –
возбужденный, раздухарившийся.
I told him he was making a
mistake until I was blue in the face but he wouldn’t listen.
to be in the blues (to
feel blue) – быть в плохом настроении, хандрить.
The bad weather is making me
feel blue.
Things look blue – Дела плохи.
Things are looking blue for
Tom these days. His wife has left him.
till all is blue –
до бесконечности, сколько угодно.
You can talk till all is blue
but I shan’t believe you.
blue book –
сборник официальных документов.
He spends all his time reading
blue books.
to drink till all’s blue –
допиться до белой горячки.
Let him drink till all’s blue.
Maybe he’ll understand something.
to blue one’s money – транжирить деньги.
Don’t marry this girl. She’ll
blue all your money.
to cry the blues – прибедняться.
I hate people crying the
blues.
to give somebody the blues –
наводить тоску
на кого-либо.
He always gives me the blue, I
won’t invite him on my party.
to look through blue
glasses – смотреть мрачно, пессимистически.
Life’s wonderful. Don’t look
at it through blue glasses.
blue water – открытое море.
I see a small boat in blue
water Maybe there are people there.
to cry oneself blue in
the face – кричать до посинения.
You may cry yourself blue in
the face but I won’t buy you this toy.
to look blue – иметь унылый вид.
Let’s go out and have some
fun, you look so blue.
blue fear – паника, замешательство.
I feel blue fear when I heard
her scream.
blue devils – уныние.
Don’t give way to blue devils,
it’s a sin.
GREY.
grey cells –
серые клеточки, мозг.
Use your grey cells to
understand it.
grey Cardinal – серый кардинал.
This terrible man is a Grey
Cardinal in our country.
grey area – спорный вопрос.
Writing personal e-mail in the
office is a grey area that needs to be discussed at the next meeting.
grey pound –
экономическая власть пенсионеров.
The only thing keeping this
economy alive is the grey pound.
BROWN
to brown somebody off – надоедать, наскучить.
You really brown me off!
to brown out –
уменьшать освещение.
The lights started to brown
out, and I thought maybe there was a power shortage.
to be as brown as a
berry – сильно загореть.
She’s as brown as a berry
after a month in Greece.
to brown-nose – грубо льстить.
The rest of the class were
sick of watching him brown-nose.
to do something up brown –
делать что-либо с большим размахом.
Whenever they put on a party,
they do it up brown.
PURPLE
to turn purple with
rage - побагроветь от ярости.
He turns purple with rage
every time when he sees bad marks in my mark book.
to be born in the purple –
быть королевским отпрыском, быть знатного рода.
To be born in the purple is
not my dream at all.
purple prose –
витиеватая, высокопарная проза.
Despite occasional passages of
purple prose, her latest novel is still very readable.
PINK
the pink of perfection – верх совершенства.
His behaviour was the pink of
perfection.
to see the world though
rose-coloured spectacles – видеть все в розовомсвете.
He looks at life through rose-coloured
spectacles.
in the pink –
в прекрасном состоянии(о здоровье).
He recovered completely from
his surgery and has been in the pink ever since.
to be tickled pink – быть в восторге.
She was tickled pink that you
made the effort to go and visit her when you were in town.
a pink-collar job –
низкооплачиваемая работа для женщин.
Most women returning to work
after raising children, head for ink-collar jobs in sales and service.
a pink slip –
уведомление об увольнении.
It was Christmas time when Miller
got his pink slip from the company.
to see pink elephants – допиться до чертиков.
When I got to the point of
seeing pink elephants, I knew that something had to be done.
YELLOW
to be yellow – быть трусом, струсить.
Tina was too yellow to go on the
roller-coaster!
yellow-bellied – трусливый.
He is a yellow-bellied coward
and never is willing to fight for what is right.
a yellow streak – трусость.
Get rid of that yellow streak.
Show some courage.
the yellow press – желтая пресса.
I never read the yellow press.
a yellow dog –
подлый человек, трус, презренная личность.
Don’t speak to this yellow
dog! He betrayed us.
GREEN
to be green with envy – позеленеет от зависти.
I was green envy. When I heard
that she would be going to London for a month while I had to stay and work.
the green light –
«зеленый свет», разрешение.
We got the green light to go
ahead with the new advertising campaign.
to be green –
не иметь опыта быть наивным, доверчивым.
You can tell that he’s never
worked as a waiter before. He seems green. He doesn’t know what he is doing.
as green as grass – зеленый как трава.
His face turned as green as
grass just before he vomited.
to have green fingers /
to have a green thumb - быть хорошимсадоводом.
I’m afraid I don’t have green fingers.
I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever owned.
the green-eyed monster – ревность, зависть.
Do you think his criticisms of
Jack are valid or is it just a case of the green-eyed monster?
the rub of the green – удача.
This player hasn’t had the rub
of the green in the last few tournaments.
to look green around
the gills – выглядеть больным.
He was out drinking last night
was he? I thought he looked a bit green around the gills this morning.
green stuff – деньги.
I’ve run out of green stuff.
Can you loan me a few bucks?
the green belt – зеленая зона.
The city has a policy of
increasing the green belt around the city.
Grass is always greener
on the other side – Там хорошо, где нас нет.
He realized that the grass is
always greener on the other side when he saw that his new job wasn’t perfect
and had its own problems too.
A green hand / a
greenhorn – новичок, неопытный человек.
He is a greenhorn and doesn’t
have enough experience to drive the large piece of machinery yet.
to green – обманывать, мистифицировать.
You won’t green me. I know all
your tricks.
green wound -
свежая, незажившая рана.
I don’t want to talk about it.
It’s a green wound for me.
sure as God made little
green apples – верно, как дважды два четыре.
I’m as sure as God made little
green apples that he’s single.
A hedge between keeps friendship green –
Дружба будет процветать, если друзья уважают личное пространство друг друга.
Lynne and I are the best
friends, but we often like to spend time apart. A hedge between keeps friendship
green.
in the green – в расцвете сил.
He is a man in the green.
to go to the greenwood -
стать разбойником, быть объявленным вне закона.
If you do it, you’ll have to
go to the greenwood.
green winter – бесснежная, мягкая зима.
It was green winter last year.
WHITE
whiter than white – белее белого.
I never was convinced by the
whiter than white image of her portrayed in the press.
a white lie – безвредная ложь.
Told my boss a white lie and
said that I was sick yesterday when actually I wasn’t.
a white elephant –
дорогой, но бесполезный подарок.
The new stereo that he bought
is a white elephant and he doesn’t need it at all.
to be as white as a
sheet / as a ghost, as snow – быть белым как снег.
Marilyn turned as white as a
sheet when the policeman told her that her son had been in a car wreck.
a white collar – служащий.
Cities may become one day a
kind of reservation for less educated work force while white collars will be
enjoying life in smart homes in the countryside.
a white night – ночь без сна.
You look pale. Did you spend a
white night?
to bleed someone white –
обобрать кого-либо до нитки.
The creeps tried to bleed me
white.
to white knuckle something –
пережить что-то трудное, угрожающее жизни.
The flight from New York was terrible.
We had to white knuckle the entire flight.
a white knight –
тот, кто дает деньги компании, чтобы избежать покупки другой компании.
Hope is fading that a white
knight will appear to stop the takeover bid.
a white man –
порядочный человек.
Tom seems to be a white man.
white fury –
неистовство, бешенство, ярость.
I have never seen you in such
white fury. I’m even afraid of you.
to stand in a white
sheet – публично каяться.
You must tell all the truth
when you stand in a white sheet.
white-handed – честный.
We can trust these
white-handed people.
to show the white
feather – струсить.
He boasted a lot about his
courage but when danger came, he showed the white feather.
to whitewash –
1) обелить, скрыть недостатки; 2) выиграть «всухую».
Many attempts have been made
to whitewash the man’s reputation. Our team has never whitewashed.
a white crow –
белая ворона, редкость.
This new girl is like a white
crow in our class.
the men in white coats –
доктора психиатрической больницы.
The men in white coats will be
coming to take me away if I stay in this job much longer.
lily-white –
1) белоснежный; 2) предельно честный;
3) предпочитающий
окружение людей белой расы.
He marveled at her lily-white
hands. He’s not exactly lily-white himself, so he has some nerve calling her a
cheat! The black family found it difficult to feel comfortable in this
lily-white, prosperous suburb.
white-bread –
простой, ординарный, скучный.
It’s a movie about middle
America – white-bread characters living white-bread lives.
white coffee -
кофе с молоком.
What do you prefer – white or
black coffee?
BLACK
to give a black look – гневно взглянуть.
When she saw the broken cup,
she didn’t say a word, only gave me a black look.
to pretend / say that
black is white – заведомо говорить неправду.
She’ll say that black is white
if she thinks it’s to her advantage.
the black sheep – паршивая овца.
The man is the black sheep in
his family and is the only member who has not had a successful career and life.
to put down in black
and white – написать черным по белому.
I think I understand what you
are talking about, but we need to put down the details in black and white.
black and white – четкий ясный.
The rules we gave the kids
were black and white. No answering the phone or the door.
in the black –
без убытков, с прибылью.
The company has been in the
black since they began to adopt many new ideas to cut costs.
to see everything in black and white –
судить обо
всем однобоко, без нюансов и полутонов.
He tries to see everything in
black and white although he knows this is impossible.
to black out –
1) маскировать, затемнять, выключать свет; 2) замазывать текст черной краской,
не пропускать, запрещать; 3) засекречивать; 4) на мгновение терять сознание; 5)
заглушать ( теле- или радио- передачу).
During the war people in the
cities were forced to black out their windows so that the enemy aircraft could
not see them. The local papers blacked out news of the disaster. This agent is
blacked out. Nobody knows his real name. I blacked out right after the
accident. They blacked out the basketball game in this area.
not to be as black as
one is painted – не быть таким плохим, говорят.
The landlord is not as black
as he is painted. He seems quite generous to me.
black and blue – в синяках.
We found the poor guy black
and blue near the train tracks.
As black as pitch (as a
skillet, as a stack of black cats, as a sweep, as coal as night, as the ace of
spades) – черный как соль, как сажа, как ночь.
After playing in the mud all
morning the children were as black as night.
The pot calls the kettle black.
– Не смейся горох, не лучше бобов; уж кто бы говорил.
My sister says I dress funny,
but if you’ve seen some of the clothes she wears you know it’s a case of the
pot calling the kettle black.
a black mark –
темное пятно (на репутации человека).
This administrative error will
be a black mark on his record.
a black day –
несчастливый день.
A bomb went off early this
morning. This is a black day for the peace process.
a black eye –
синяк под
глазом.
I have a black eye where John
hit me.
the new black –
последний писк моды.
Designers say that brown is
the new black.
to swear black and blue – поклясться всем святым.
He swore black and blue he had
nothing to do with the missing money.
black diamonds – уголь.
England’s wealth was built up
on diamonds-black diamonds.
to get in black books – попасть в черный список.
If Hob doesn’t work harder he
will get in Mr. Green’s black books.
to blackmail – шантажировать.
They tried to force the men to
give money by blackmail.
a blackleg –
1) штрейкбрехер; 2) шулер.
The men tried to persuade the
blacklegs not to work while they were on strike. Don’t play cards with him, he
is a famous blackleg.
black art – черная магия.
This film is about magicians
and black art.
black as hell – тьма кромешная.
It’s black as hell here. Do
you have a lantern?
to look black (black as
sin) – выглядеть мрачным (мрачнее тучи).
Mary looks black as sin. Do
you know what is wrong with her?
to known black from white –
понимать, что к чему; быть себе на уме.
This man deserves respect, he
knows black from white.
black hole – карцер.
For such things you can get in
the black hole.
black dog –
тоска зеленая, дурное настроение, уныние.
I don’t want to go to the
country as usual black dog and nobody to play with.
things look black –
положение кажется безнадежным.
I don’t know how to solve this
problem. Things look black.
black hand – шайка бандитов.
Oh my God! This black had has
stolen all my money!
black in the face –
багровый (от раздражения или напряжения).
Our father got to know that
you missed lessons. Now he is black in the face and waits for you in the
kitchen.
a black day – будний день.
Why are you in such a beautiful
dress on black day? Do you have a birthday today?
a blackguard – ругаться, сквернословить.
Keep yourself in hand and
don’t blackguard! It’s disgusting.
a black spot –
опасное место на дороге.
Be careful driving a car,
there are many black spots there.
a blackshirt – фашист, чернорубашечник.
This blackshirt has beaten my
from black and blue.
Black Maria –
тюремная карета, «черный ворон».
In 1930-s one could often see
a Black Maria near the houses in the USSR.
Analysis
of Colour Idioms.
I found about 150 colour
idioms and made a glossary.
The black and the blue colours
are especially rich in idioms. Some idioms contain one word (to green – обманывать), but
most idioms are word-combinations (to be tickled pink – быть в восторге) and
even sentences (The pot calls the kettle black. – Не смейся горох, не лучше бобов.).
According to the parts of
speech there are four groups of colour idioms:
- nominal
phrases ( a blue-eyed boy – любимчик);
- adjective
phraseological units ( yellow-bellied – трусливый);
- verbal idioms
( to bleed somebody white – обобрать кого-либо донитки);
- adverbial
idioms ( out of the blue – совершенно неожиданно).
The most numerous groups are
nominal and verbal idioms (~44% and ~42%).
There are also what we may
call partial idioms, where one of the words has its usual meaning, the other
has a meaning that is peculiar to the particular sequence. Thus red hair refers
to hair, but not hair that is red in strict colour terms.
An interesting set involves
the word “white”, for white coffee is brown in colour, white wine is usually
yellow, and white people are pink. Yet, white is, perhaps, idiomatic only to
some degree – it could be interpreted “the lightest in colour of that usually
to be found”. Not surprisingly “black” is used as its antonym for coffee and
people (Though again neither of them are black in colour terms), yet it is not
used for wine.
Exercises.
To broaden the pupils’
language awareness of idioms one can suggest the following exercises.
I.
Insert the missing element; use each idiom in the sentence.
to cry … murder
to see pink …
a … dog
to brown …
to paint … red
II. Supply the necessary
words.
to swear … (поклясться
всем святым)
to do something …
(делать что-либо с большим размахом)
to catch …
(застать с поличным)
to give
… (смутить)
to turn
… (побагроветь от ярости)
III. Give Russian equivalents
for:
a white night
to brown-nose
a redneck
to blackmail
green winter
IV. Recall some adjective
phraseological units with colours.
V. Find the right variant.
1) She's the ___ sheep in her
family.
a) green, b) white, c) red, d)
black
2) They were ___ with envy
when they heard about my great new job.
a) pink, b) blue, c) green, d)
yellow
3) Susie’s dress looked awful
but I told her a ____lie and said it looked great.
a) blue, b) white, c) green,
d) grey
4) He sees ___ every time his
team loses.
a) black, b) white, c) red, d)
yellow
5) She was feeling ___ after
she failed her exam.
a) pink, b) green, c) red,
d)blue
6) I had no idea you were
coming. You came right out of the ___.
a), green b), black c) blue,
d) red
7) Do not call me ___! I was
not scared at all!
a) green, b) yellow, c) brown,
d)blue
8) He’s a really ___-eyed boy
in this office. The boss loves him.
a) black, b) brown, c) green,
d)blue
9) How can you argue about
your salary now? It’s there on your contract in _____.
a) black and white, b) blue
and white, c) red and white, d) black
10) I’ve been in the ___since
I started going to the gym.
a) yellow, b) pink, c) black,
d) red
VI. Give an idiom for each
number.
1. successful, profitable,
2. to go out and have a great
time,
3. to react with
uncontrollable rage against smb. or smth.,
4. extremely timid, cowardly,
5. an area of fields and trees
around a town.
VII. Reproduce an episode from
the book you are reading, employ colour idioms.
VIII. Using the list of
idiomatic expressions given below make up a story (a dialogue).
green stuff
to bleed someone white
a black spot
the boys in blue
black and blue
a blackguard
IX. Think of ten idioms that
initiate with verbs.
VIII. Going to the country Tim
got into a black spot. Two terrible men appeared on the road and demanded all
green stuff he had. The blackguards bled Tim white. The boys in blue found the
poor guy black and blue near the forest.
IX. to go into the red
to rollout the red carpet
to burn with a low blue flame
to make the air blue
to brown out
to go to the greenwood
to show the white feather
to give a black look
to know black from white
to look green around the gills
X. 1. a white lie
2. once in a blue moon
3. to feel blue
4. to be green with envy
5. Grass is always greener on
the other side.
Conclusion.
Idioms are integral part of
language which make our speech more colourful and expressive, help us to use
English more creatively, encourage us to improve our knowledge.The aims of the
work are achieved. I enriched my vocabulary by means of colour idioms and can
use them in my speech.The practical value of the work consists in the fact that
it can be used at the English language lessons as a means of raising pupils’
interest and developing language guessing skills. One can use the glossary I
compiled and check up one’s knowledge doing different exercises.Summing up, we
must admit that English idioms are so numerous and rich that we have a large
sphere of activity to study them.
Bibliography.
- Новый
англо-русский словарь / Издательство «Русский язык»б В.К. Мюллер, В.Л.
Дашевская, В.А. Каплан и др. – 7-е изд., стереотип. – М.: Рус. яз., 2000.
– 880 с.
- Эккерсли К.Е.
Учебник английского языка. В 4 т. Т. 4. – М.:АО «Буклет», 1995. – 320 с.:
илл.
West Kazakhstan State University after M .Utemisov.
The
report on the theme:
“ Colour Idioms in
English Language”.
Teacher:
Kuspanova Bakytgul Maratovna
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