Colour is an important part of the visual arts, fashion, interior design and many other fields and disciplines. This presentation helps to distinguish the peculiarities of linguistic representation of the blue colour in English language as well as to analyse some word combinations and idioms containing the word 'blue'.
Colour is an important part of the visual arts, fashion, interior design and many other fields and disciplines. We perceive colours with our ears as well as our eyes and, in an emotional sense, a colour word means or is associated with just what the writer intends. Colours and colour words are to do with emotion as well as perception.
In Central Asia and Eastern Europe the word bhle- was used to describe something that was light-coloured. belyi – Russian for white blawr – Welsh for grey blanc – French for white or blank blavo – Old Spanish for yellowish-grey flavus – Latin for yellow phalos – Greek for white. A a short list of the terms spawned by the word bhle:
True blue - faithful and steadfast, comes from the colour of a fabric manufactured in Coventry, England during the Middle Ages Blue blood – noble birth. Blue collar – of, relating to, or constituting the class of wage earners whose duties call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing
Blue chip means stock shares of a large company that has a high value. E. g. The blue chips took another nose dive in today’s trading.to appear/happen out of the blue1) to arrive unexpectedly, usually after a long absence2) to happen very suddenly and unexpectedly. E. g. “My brother suddenly appeared out of the blue yesterday. We hadn’t seen him for years.” “I was driving home when out of the blue a deer jumped out in front of my car. I braked just in time to avoid it. We were both very lucky not to be hurt.”
To blue pencil something - to censor something. E. g. ”Reports on the mistreatment of the political prisoners were blue pencilled by the authorities”A blue-eyed boy - critical description of a boy/young man who has been singled out for special favours by someone in authority. E. g. ”John is a real blue-eyed boy. The team manager always gives him special treatment. It isn’t fair to the rest of us.”A bolt from the blue - some unexpected bad news. E. g. “It came like a bolt from the blue that they are getting divorced.”
Blue in the face - to make a huge butvain effort to win a person’s agreement. E. g. “I told him he was making a mistake until I was blue in the face but he wouldn’t listen.”Once in a blue moon - to occur extremely rarely or only once in a life-time. E. g. ”My brother only rings home once in a blue moon. I wish he would ring our parents more often.”Men/boys in blue. Blue and white
"Between the devil and the deep blue sea" is an idiom meaning a dilemma - i.e., to choose between two undesirable situations. Blue around the gills 1) ill; nauseated. E. g. “How about a little air? I feel a little blue around the gills.”2) alcohol intoxicated. E. g. “Marty – now thoroughly blue around the gills - slid neatly under the table, and everyone pretended not to notice.”