Colorful phrases

[muna]

In English, there are numerous idiomatic phrases referring to colors. Let’s choose and explain some of them:


BLUE
“Once in a blue moon”: It points out to a very rare event. According to popular usage, a blue moon refers to the second full moon that occurs in any calendar month.
The “blue moon” expression is old and dates back to medieval England. A blue moon was a synonym for absurdity —considered to be as likely as the moon being made out of green cheese.
Some of the possible Spanish translations for this popular phrase are: “cada muerte de obispo” (in the Rio de la Plata area), “de higos a brevas” (in Spain), “muy de vez en nunca” (in México).


RED
If someone “paints the town red”, he/she engages in a riotous spree.
There exist many suggestions as to the origin of the phrase. The most well-known is a tale dating from 1837. It is said that year is when the Marquis of Waterford and a group of friends ran riot in the Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray, painting the town's toll-bar and several buildings red.
In Argentina the equivalent to this phrase is “irse de parranda” o “reventar la noche”. On the other side of the map, Spaniards translate this phrase as “salir de marcha”.


BLACK
The “black sheep of the family” refers to a worthless or disgraced member. It is not clear why black sheep were selected to symbolize worthlessness. It may be linked to the idea that black things are related to bad things: black mood, a black cat, etc.
In Spanish, we translate this phrase as “la oveja negra de la familia”.

© Palabras del Plata

[Morphynn]

Pues del BLUE aqui en Venezuela se diria,"Cuando la rana eche pelos." El RED tambien se puede decir "Irse de Farra.", "Irse de Fiesta.", "Irse de Rumba."

[Tulkas]

No nos olvidemos que blue y red también pueden referirse a un estado emocional. Por ejemplo en la frase I'm feeling blue que significa "Me siento triste", "Estoy triste" o "decaído". El blue suele usarse para referirse a un sentimiento nostáligo o de pena y el red a un sentimiento de ira o enojo...

[THANAT0S]

Hace mucho que no "paints the town red" XD jajaja! Muy bueno!