10 Colourful Idioms!

1. To see Red
Meaning: To become very angry suddenly
Sentence: When Mother discovered that her favourite vase had shattered onto the floor in smithereens, she saw red and gave us a severe tongue-lashing.

2. Until you are Blue in the face
Meaning: to argue for a long time, usually with no solution
Sentence: The couple argued endlessly until they were both blue in their faces.

3. Green-eyed monster/to be green with envy
Meaning: to be extremely jealous or envious of someone
Sentence: When Sarah saw her arch-rival raising the golden trophy victoriously in the air, she morphed into a green-eyed monster. OR
Sentence: When Sarah saw her arch-rival raising the golden trophy victoriously in the air, she was green with envy.

4. To be tickled pink
Meaning: to be very happy or amused about something
Sentence: William was tickled pink while watching his pet puppy chasing its own tail.

5. Yellow-bellied
Meaning: to describe someone who is a coward
Sentence: The moment the class bully Ralph entered the classroom, all of us turned yellow-bellied and veered out of his way.

6. Beet red
Meaning: (to describe) one’s face turning dark red
Sentence: My shy sister’s face turned beet red when I caught her singing in front of the mirror.

7. To have/with a heart of gold
Meaning: to be very kind and generous
Sentence: Grandfather, who often donates to multiple charities, is someone who has a heart of gold/ with a heart of gold.

8. Feeling blue
Meaning: to feel a little depressed or sad
Sentence: Ever since she received her dismal results from the last examination, Mei Mei has been feeling blue.

9. Black Sheep
Meaning: (used to describe) a person who is a disgrace to a family or group
Sentence: Notorious for his lies, George was the black sheep of the company whom everyone stayed away from.

10. Rose-coloured/tinted glasses
Meaning: having an unrealistic or overly optimistic view
Sentence: Having been protected from the harsh realties of the world, Amy has always looked at life through her rose-tinted glasses.

Now that you know how these idioms can be used, try this short exercise below. I am going to show you 6 questions at a time followed by their answers before showing you the next set of 5 questions and their answers!

You can pause the video to finish the questions before checking!

1. Paul turned ________________ when he realised his singing was broadcast over the school public announcement system unexpectedly.
2. “Don’t be such a ________________! Your brother has worked hard to deserve this gold medal,” Mother chided after I sulked and threw a tantrum.
3. The moment the giant’s voice boomed across the skies, the townsfolk turned ________________ and ran for their lives.
4. After the beach picnic was cancelled due to the heavy downpour, Caleb could not stop ________________.
5. “How dare you damage the school property?” Mr Ng, our discipline master ________________ when he caught some boys vandalising the school gate.
6. Everyone avoids Uncle Roger, the ________________ of the family, who was always borrowing money and never returning them.
7. “If you always look at things through your ________________, you’d be sorely disappointed and disillusioned with life one day,” Grandfather cautioned me when I first graduated from college.
8. Janet is always willing to help others; she certainly has a ________________.
9. The stand-up comedian had everyone in his audience ________________ with his puny jokes and witty sarcasm.
10. The two siblings fought with each other over the iPad for almost an hour until they were both ________________.

Answers

1. Paul turned ________________ when he realised his singing was broadcast over the school public announcement system unexpectedly.
2. “Don’t be such a ________________! Your brother has worked hard to deserve this gold medal,” Mother chided after I sulked and threw a tantrum.
3. The moment the giant’s voice boomed across the skies, the townsfolk turned ________________ and ran for their lives.
4. After the beach picnic was cancelled due to the heavy downpour, Caleb could not stop ________________.
5. “How dare you damage the school property?” Mr Ng, our discipline master ________________ when he caught some boys vandalising the school gate.
6. Everyone avoids Uncle Roger, the ________________ of the family, who was always borrowing money and never returning them.
7. “If you always look at things through your ________________, you’d be sorely disappointed and disillusioned with life one day,” Grandfather cautioned me when I first graduated from college.
8. Janet is always willing to help others; she certainly has a ________________.
9. The stand-up comedian had everyone in his audience ________________ with his puny jokes and witty sarcasm.
10. The two siblings fought with each other over the iPad for almost an hour until they were both ________________.

Have fun writing and see you next time!