Colour me: Green with envy! Colour expressions in English and Spanish

Question

I thought it would be curious to compare different colour expressions in English and Spanish that describe a mood or paint a picture using colour.

Green with envy

is a great example of this mode of expression......

Would you share some more with me? I welcome Spanish or English entries...Whatever puts you in the pink! (Ooops I did it again!)

nice topic, rena :) - Issabela, Feb 20, 2010

I love it Renae!!! it's very useful!! Good idea! - Benz, Feb 20, 2010

Ok, what's a Montana girl doing spelling color like the British? jejeje. That's just not right. - Goyo, Feb 20, 2010

nice idea! :-) - bomberapolaca, Feb 20, 2010

Hi Goyo. I was homeschooled and learned both methods of spelling from little on!:) I tend to use both methods interchangeably. It can be a little odd.... - renaerules, Feb 20, 2010

This sounds interesting :) - Fidalgo, Apr 21, 2010

Answer 1

En inglés se habla de "golden parachutes" = paracaidas de oro y del mismo modo de "a golden handshake" = un apretón de manos de oro.

Esas son locuciónes que se refieren a las recompensas o los premios que una empresa le da a un ejecutivo para que se va. Normalmente la empresa quiere que ese ejecutivo se vaya.

Por otra parte se dice también "golden handcuffs" = esposas de oro que es una espresión contraria para sugerir que una empresa le quiere ligar al empleado - para que no se lo puede permitir el empleado de irse sin perder demasiado dinero.

tu good at speaking espanol - mmetz1, Feb 25, 2010

Answer 2

green around the gills-feeling sick

Answer 3

She was a"scarlet woman".

Answer 4

in the red- your accounts show you owe money

Answer 5

Everyone knows that jealousy is the "green" eyed monster, but if you don't know anything about anything or are still wet behind the ears then I would say that you are pretty "green"

Answer 6

I'm feeling blue. = Me siento triste

An organisation in Oz, called "Beyond blue" for sufferers of chronic depression .good one! - ray76, Feb 22, 2010

Answer 7

Hoy tuve un día negro - meaning I had a very bad day today!!

Answer 8

Está blanco como un papel!!! (when you get scared for something) ... again In Argentina

It's the same in Engllsh, 'as white as a sheet'. - ruperttebb, Feb 20, 2010

Answer 9

Está morada/o del frío - meaning she's freezing!! (in Argentina)

Answer 10

He was caught red-handed (in the act)

Lo cogieron con las manos ensangrentadas (en la masa)

Answer 11

Viernes Negro: The day after Thanksgiving in U.S. It is called this because stores and businesses are hoping that sales go so well that they can get out of the "red" (debt) and into the "black" (financial success).

Answer 12

¡Lunes azul, cómo odio lunes azul!

Blue Monday, How I hate blue Monday!

Answer 13

yellow - bellied = cowardly yellow belly = coward

Does it translate to Spanish: barriga amarilla?

Answer 14

ponerse morado/a (peninsular Spanish) - to stuff oneself (de comida)

Answer 15

I suppose that with regard to your inquiry, Ian-Hill,

I would like to know what the Spanish equivalents of the following are.

we should research these expressions one by one.

I can begin with the last one:

grey matter = your brain: "Doing crossword puzzles tests your grey matter."

In a Spanish-language forum I found a query from a native Spanish speaker wanting to know the correct spelling of the word grey/gray so that he could translate this sentence:

Al igual que en el encéfalo, en la médula encontramos sustancia/materia gris y sustancia/materia blanca.

Although the question does not necessarily point to a common Spanish literal translation of grey matter to refer to "sesos", I also found this entry in one of the online Spanish dictionaries I sometimes use:

Diccionario Espasa concise inglés-español © 2000 Espasa Calpe:

gris adjetivo & sustantivo masculino grey, US gray

Of interest, of course, was the example:

materia gris, grey matter

I hope one of our native Spanish speakers will either confirm or -- if I have misunderstood -- allow me to delete this post.