Colors

Now, the VOA Special English program

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Every people has its own way of saying things,

its own special expressions.

Many everyday American expressions

are based on colors.

Red is a hot color.

Americans often use it to express heat.

They may say they are red hot

about something unfair.

When they are red hot

they are very angry about something.

The small hot tasting peppers

found in many Mexican foods are called red hots

for their color and their fiery taste.

Fast loud music is popular with many people.

They may say the music is red hot,

especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.

Pink is a lighter kind of red.

People sometimes say they are in the pink

when they are in good health.

The expression was first used in America

at the beginning of the twentieth century.

It probably comes from the fact

that many babies are born with a nice pink color

that shows that they are in good health.

Blue is a cool color.

The traditional blues music in the United States

is the opposite of red hot music.

Blues is slow, sad and soulful.

Duke Ellington and his orchestra

recorded a famous song – Mood Indigo

– about the deep blue color, indigo.

In the words of the song:

"You ain't been blue

till you've had that Mood Indigo."

Someone who is blue is very sad.

The color green is natural for trees and grass.

But it is an unnatural color for humans.

A person who has a sick feeling stomach

may say she feels a little green.

A passenger on a boat

who is feeling very sick from high waves

may look very green.

Sometimes a person may be upset

because he does not have something

as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car.

That person may say he is green with envy.

Some people are green with envy

because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks.

Dollars are called greenbacks because that is

the color of the back side of the paper money.

The color black is used often in expressions.

People describe a day in which everything

goes wrong as a black day.

The date of a major tragedy

is remembered as a black day.

A blacklist is illegal now.

But at one time, some businesses refused

to employ people who were on a blacklist

for belonging to unpopular organizations.

In some cases, colors describe a situation.

A brown out is an expression

for a reduction in electric power.

Brown outs happen when there is

too much demand for electricity.

The electric system is unable to offer

all the power needed in an area.

Black outs were common during World War Two.

Officials would order all lights in a city

turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes

to find a target in the dark of night.

(MUSIC)

I'm Warren Scheer. Listen again next week

for another WORDS AND THEIR STORIES program

in Special English on the Voice of America.