Learning English

Not everything is black and white
We asked you: what does it mean if you see red or if you feel blue? If you see red you become very angry. If you feel blue you feel sad.

English is a very colourful language. We are going to share a few more of our favourite colour idioms with you.

Do the activity

To do

Pay attention to the colour idioms in bold in these examples. Can you work out what they mean? Some of them may be similar in your language. Then try the quiz to find out if you are correct.

1) He’s always been the black sheep of the family – he was the only one who dropped out of school.

2) She tried to steal her parents’ car but she was caught red-handed.

3) I hadn’t seen her for years and then she called me out of the blue.

4) I told a white lie to get out of going to the party.

5) You know the grass isn’t always greeneron the other side. You may get to Australia and hate it there too.

Well done if you remembered all the phrases. If not, don't feel blue. It's now time to put them into practice.

Over to you

We asked you to tell us about a time you had an attack of the green-eyed monster. Here's what you told us:

Jean Marie

Being in my forties, for a while, I had been confronted with many existential questions, thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side. I had a quite bad social life, drowning my sorrows in many pubs, listening everybody's white lies trying to overcome this absurd situation. In such context it was not surprising that I was bitten by the green-eyed monster. I became my own Iago who suggests my compagnon had not been so faithful. The ordeal grew up, becoming unbearable. I wished I caught her red-handed, at least it would have been a fact I can deal with instead of this horrible suspicion. How I got rid of this monster when i realised that I had made it up myself. All the problems vanished.

________________________

Date

• Why did you feel so jealous?

I felt so jealous because the girl who I fancy doesn’t love me . Maybe I am not rich. :(((

• How did you react?

I felt blue and got the green-eyed monster everything that she did like upload her photographs on Facebook and hacked her Facebook account….. It's a waste of time , it take much time and I don’t have enough time to do my homework or work.... It's at the end when I decided to forget her and work hard to achieve my goals in my life . Now I haven't fallen in love with her anymore. I practise thinking positively.

• Did you regret your actions afterward?

Yes, I did. I was so stupid and regret my actions afterward . Now I try to think positively to be happier and successful in my life. And everyone, too

________________________

Bachraoui 

When I was in my first year, I met a pretty girl and I loved her so much. She liked me too. After I got my baccalaureate, she had failed. But we made a good relation and kept talking with each other on the phone for the whole  summer .All my friends knew of our relationship, so one night one of my friends told me that he saw her with someone, actually, I was laughing a moment before he told me, but suddenly the monster of green eyes got me, and the next day I texted her telling her ‘you are such cheater you cheated on me, and you do not deserve an honest man like me , shame on you,’ and never talked to her, however, after period of time I thought of this reaction as stupid one.

________________________

Ia, Georgia

So- Fa - Fa … ( “YESTERDAY  . . . All  my  troubles seemed  to …”) a  boy started playing  the  piano  out  of  the  blue. He  played  beautifully  so  that  one  lady found herself dancing  ballet on  stage and there was  an  artist  in  the right place at the right time. What  I  am  talking  about ? The  thing  is  that  I  was   on holiday. We  had  to  go  to  the  club  because  of  the  rainy  weather  and  it  was  the  club  where  my  brother  was  playing  the piano. And  then  there was  great  applause. So  he  made  his  debut  with  flying  colours.

Can  you  imagine  how  pleased  my  mother  and  I  were  then ? Others  felt  like  the  grass  was  always  greener  on  the other side. (It  made  them  green  with envy). Suddenly,  I   got  mixed  feelings   because  they   looked  at  me  like  the  black  sheep  of  the  family. I  could  see  in  their eyes  that  my  brother  was  cleverer  and  much  more  beautiful. After  that, I  felt   blue  and   saw   red. But  my  brother , who  was  always  ready  to  tell a  white  lie  in  order  not  to  hurt  my  feelings, asked   me: ’’Ia,  are  you  feeling  a  bit  off-colour  today ?..Be  happy, just  wait!  You  look  like  me  and  not  like  the  green-eyed  monster!..” I was little then. His  words  helped  me  comprehend  myself  truly  and  I  have  been trying  hard  not  to  be  attacked  by  the  green-eyed  monster  since  then.

________________________

Yemi 

The green-eyed monster never really got me, because I try to always stay positive. I'm really afraid to see red because of something like that and after it can make me feel blue.

________________________

Tomoki 

I was attacked by the green eyed monster when one student answered the question I could not answer. The reason why I felt jealousy was he did not look industrious in study. For example, whereas I submit every assignment, he sometimes did not know what were assignments. The green eyed monster is generally dangerous. However, in this case, it made me study harder, and I got better score than he did. So, I never regret my actions. I want to continue managing the green eyed monster.

End of session

That’s all for now. But don't feel blue - we'll be back again soon. Return to these pages to find out more about William Shakespeare's life and work - and to learn a useful new English expression. In the meantime, go to our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram pages for more fun with English!