COLOR YOUR ENGLISH (part 1)

Hi one and all....(howa akeed just one...my poor blog!!)

There are lots of expressions used in English with different colors. Time to check out a few and learn what they mean:

1. He never did well in school or in his career. He's the black sheep of the family.

2. Last night there was a black out that lasted a couple of hours.

3. She blacked out before they even gave her the injection.

4. I only work on my blog once in a blue moon.

5. Some days I really feel blue.

6. When Hala got married, Sahar was green with envy.

7. The boss gave him the green light to cash the check.

8. The grass is always greener on the other side.

9. She was tickled pink when she first met him.

10. People don't like doing business in Egypt because of all the red tape.

ANSWERS

1. The black sheep is the odd person; usually the one not successful or an embarrasement to a family or a group. (ya3nee fadihit el 3alah!)

2. A black out is an electricity cut. Of course in Egypt, this is part of our daily life!

3. To black out (used as a verb) means to lose concsiousness... (ighma2) or to faint.
NOTE: A black out (this is used as a noun) is different than TO black out (used as a verb).

4. Something that happens very rarely.

5. Feeling blue = feeling very sad.

6. Green with envy. Hmmm, not easy to find a translation, but envy is a type of jealousy (gheera). But it's not always a bad jealousy; envy is just wishing you had the same thing too. So, if you're green with envy, it means you're jealous.

7. To give the green light, means to give your approval or your okay for someone to do something. Like the green light fee isharat el merour means for cars to go. (Bas taba3an fee Masr, the red light also means for cars to go wa kaman el yellow light!)

8. This is a whole expression, used as it is written. It means that you always think what another person has is better than what you have. It could be in anything..EXAMPLE: her house is nicer than mine, her lifestyle is better than mine, etc...

9. Tickled pink = very pleased, very happy (tickle means zaghzagh...yakatee!!)

10. Red tape...yakhrib beit el routine wa ili gab el routine!! It is the bureaucracy and paying too much attention to rules and regulations that often don't mean anything. It usually is involved with governmental rules.

Stay tuned with more colors to come!

And use this link also: