Special Expressions with Colors: Special Expressions with Colors (#2)

Dennis Oliver

#2: blue

Besides referring to certain shades or hues that everyone
knows, colors are also used in many idiomatic expressions.

Here are a few common expressions using the color blue:

expression		meaning
blue (adjective)		depressed

blue-blood (noun)		someone from a noble or aristocratic family

blue book		(1) an official report; (2) a small paper booklet used for examinations

blue-chip stock		stock with high value based on stability and past sales

blue-collar worker		factory worker

blue law		law which forbids doing certain activities on Sunday

blue nose		a person with puritanical religious or moral views

blue-pencil (verb)		edit or censor using a pencil which makes blue-colored writing

blue print		a kind of photographic printing, usually of plans for a building; it has white lines printed on blue paper

blue-ribbon (adjective)		highest quality (because blue ribbons are awarded to winners of first-place prizes)

do something until you're blue in the face		do something until you no longer have energy to do it (and with no positive results)

men in blue		policemen

once in a blue moon		very seldom; very rarely

out of the blue		describes something that happens suddenly and also unexpectedly

true blue		very loyal