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Learn Italian color idioms

Last Modified: October 22, 2016

Idiomatic expressions are one of the most problematic areas for any language learner. The difficulty arises from the fact that these sentences don’t have a literal sense. This means that both their composition doesn’t come natural to learners, and their meaning isn’t easy to guess.
For these reasons idioms are usually taught when students already have a high language level  – C1 or C2.

To have green fingersI personally disagree with this practice, believing that if idioms – as well as informal expressions – were taught gradually starting from beginning levels, they would be more well assimilated – to go further on the topic of language learning, and idioms see Aspects of modern language teaching in Europe.

For examples, colors are one of the first subjects to be taught at school when learning a second language. Introducing some idioms with this subject is not impossible, since every language has some color idioms.

Today, I explain some Italian color idioms. Are you ready? Let’s start!

VERDE

Essere al verde: People who sono al verde, don’t have money anymore.

Sono al verde, non ho più un euro.

Essere verde dall’invidia: to be very envious about something or someone.

Quando mi ha detto che si sposava con un miliardario sono diventata verde dall’invidia.

Avere il pollice verde: a person who is very good at keeping plants healthy and making them grow ha il police verde.

Anna ha proprio il police verde, riesce a far crescere qualsiasi cosa!

Vedere i sorci verdi: to give somebody a rough time

Il vicino ha rubato ancora dal mio orto. Adesso basta, gli faccio vedere i sorci verdi.

BIANCO

Passare la notte in bianco: to have sleepless night

Ho passato la notte in bianco, dopo quello che avevo fatto non sono proprio riuscito a dormire.

Essere bianco come un cencio/lenzuolo: to be very pale, usually because you are frightened or ill

Ma ti senti male? Sei bianco come un cencio!
Poverino! L’abbiamo spaventato, guardalo è bianco come un cencio!

Fare un assegno in bianco: to sign a check with the amount payable left blank

Mio padre mi ha fatto un assegno in bianco nel caso ci fosse un’emergenza mentre lui non c’è.

Fare una settimana bianca: to make a winter-sports holiday of one week

Lucia va a fare una settimana bianca a Madonna di Campiglio. Quest’anno ha detto che proverà anche lo snowboard.

Mangiare in bianco: to eat light food usually because of an illness.

Il dottore mi ha detto di mangiare in bianco per i prossimi tre giorni.

Essere una mosca bianca: One who differs from the others in a group in some way è una mosca bianca.

In un paese di pescatori, lui era praticamente una mosca bianca.

NERO

Vedere nero: to view everything from a pessimistic angle.

Renato è caduto in depressione da un mese, ormai vede tutto nero, e io non so come aiutarlo.

Essere nero: to ve very angry.

Sono nero, per poco due idioti non facevano un frontale con me! E hanno pure avuto il coraggio d’insultarmi!

Cronaca nera: crime news.

Un’altra notizia di cronaca nera: sparatoria in un centro commerciale, venti le vittime.

Una giornata nera: a very bad day.

Oggi è stata una giornata nera al lavoro, tutti i computer erano impazziti e i clienti protestavano: un incubo!

Essere la pecora nera: someone who doesn’t fit in with the rest of a group, and is often considered to be a troublemaker or an embarrassment.

Sono la pecora nera della famiglia. Sono l’unico che prende dei pessimi voti a scuola.

Lavorare in nero: to work illegally

Vista la grande tassazione, in Italia moltissime persone ormai lavorano in nero.

ROSSO

Diventare rosso: to blush

Quando le ho presentato Davide, Giulia è diventata tutta rossa. Qualcosa mi dice che lui le piace.

Avere il conto in rosso: when your account is overdrawn you’ve un conto in rosso.

Dopo tutte le spese mediche per mia suocera, ho il conto in rosso.

ROSA

Cronaca rosa: a section of a newspaper or program that is devoted to gossip about well-known people.

Secondo la cronaca rosa Fabio Volo presto diventerà papà per la seconda volta.

Vedere tutto rosa: to see everything in an optimistic light.

Da quando si è sposata, Elisa vede sempre tutto rosa, come la invidio!

BLU

Avere il sangue blu: to be of noble birth.

Hai Saputo l’ultima? Roberta si è trovata un fidanzato dal sangue blu.

AZZURRO

Principe azzurro: an ideal male lover who is both handsome and of admirable character.

Mia zia ha 67 anni e non si è mai sposata. Dice che aspetta il suo principe azzurro.

GIALLO

Romanzo/film giallo: a story about a murderer in which his/her identity isn’t revealed until the end.

Sto leggendo un nuovo romanzo giallo, è davvero avvincente, non vedo l’ora di scoprire chi è l’assassino.

 

Now that you’ve learnt some Italian color idioms, you can test yourself with this exercise.

Do you want to learn some other Italian idioms? Have a look at some of my posts: Ten Italian idioms, Learn Italian animal idioms, Ten Italian idioms about animals.

In alternative, you can buy the book Italiano per modo di dire.


Credits

Original image by LoggaWiggler

Related Posts:

  • Learn Italian animal idioms
    Learn Italian animal idioms
  • Eight common Italian sentences with the word gioco
    Eight common Italian sentences with the word gioco
  • Ten Italian idioms about animals
    Ten Italian idioms about animals

Category: Learn ItalianTag: color idioms, Italian, Italian color idioms, Italian language, learn Italian, Sos Italian

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