Cesare Pavese said “Every new morning, I'll go out on the streets looking for colours.” In fact, colours are good for your life, they cheer it up and fill it. Everyone can notice the benefits of taking a walk in the green nature. There are many ways to add more colour to your daily life through little things, such as clothes, lipstick, flowers, etc. What if their positive power concerned your tongue too? If you could paint reality just by speaking? In Italian there are many idiomatic expressions related to colour!
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Idioms with COLOURS in Italian
1 - "Passare la notte in bianco" (to have a sleepless night)
This expression means "to not be able to sleep all night". This meaning comes from the Middle Ages and, precisely, from the fact that, at the time, when a person was going to be invested as a knight, they had to stay up all the night before the investiture, wearing a white dress as a sign of purity.
For example:
- Are you ok? You're so pale...
- Don't talk about it... I've just had a sleepless night… Because my son didn't stop crying… As soon as I get home, sleep will overcome me on the couch!
2 - "Essere nero" (to be blind with rage)
What do they mean when they say they are very "black"? Well, it means that they are very angry, furious! So, be careful!
For example:
- Good morning, Sir, yesterday's customer wants to know if you can meet him today...
- No, listen, today cancel all the appointments! I don't want to talk with anybody! I'm furious! I've just found out that our rivals made an important deal!
3 - "Essere al verde" (to be broke)
Generally, green is the colour which represents hope, good omen, but this expression related to green colour is not optimistic at all! If someone is broke, they have no money.
So, why "green"? It seems that the meaning of this expression comes from an old tradition: to paint the bottom of candles with green. So, when a candle got to the green bottom, it was consumed.
For example:
- Have you heard of Paolo? He's been broke since he resigned...
- Poor him! He was sure he would find a better job, but actually he's still unemployed...
4 - "Avere il sangue blu" (to have blue blood)
This expression is used to refer to people of aristocratic descent. But why "blue"? Well, the choice of this colour is not clear, but there's a quite convincing theory. It seems that, since they never exposed to the sun (differently from lower classes who worked in the countryside), aristocratic people's skin was very fair and you could easily see the veins, blue-coloured.
For example:
- Antonella is really unpleasant: she behaves like a star or a princess, having not even a drop of blue blood.
- Yes, you're so right! I don't know how Sergio can stand her!
5 - "Avere il pollice verde" (to have green fingers)
This expression has a quite clear meaning: it is used to talk about a person who's keen on gardening, growing and taking care of plants, flowers or a vegetable garden.
But why "green"? Well, the green colour, on the thumb in this case, is due to the hand's contact with plants when you're not wearing gloves.
For example:
- The plant that my husband gave me for my birthday last week is already dead... I don't know why...
- Oh, come on! You're terrible! Definitely, you don't have green fingers!
6 - "Essere rosso dalla vergogna" (to blush with shame)
This expression is easy to understand too: it just means that a person is very embarrassed, very ashamed. The use of the red colour is clear: when you're ashamed, you tend to blush.
For example:
- After arguing with his brother in front of everyone, Roberto blushed with shame!
- I'm not surprised! They made such a fool of themselves...
7 - "Fare una settimana bianca" (to go on a ski-holiday)
What could it mean? Think of the white colour... what comes to your mind? Snow, of course! In fact, this idiom refers to a 6 or 7 days holiday in the mountains in winter, at a ski resort.
For example:
- This summer we didn't manage to go on holiday, but I promise you that in winter we'll go on a ski-holiday in the Dolomites!
- But I hate the mountains...
8 - "Essere verde dall’invidia" (to be green with envy)
This one is not difficult either! In fact, it simply means to be very envious.
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