A. Words and expressions for specific colours

• pitch black: intensely black; used about darkness, night, etc. (pitch is an old word for tar)
• jet black: intensely black; used about hair, eyes, etc. (jet is a black semi-precious gemstone)
• scarlet: very bright red
• crimson: strong deep red
• shocking pink: an extremely bright pink
• ginger: orangey red, used about hair and animal fur
• navy: dark blue, used about clothes, not eyes
• turquoise: greenish blue, used about fabrics, paint, sea, etc., but not usually eyes
• lime: a bright yellowish green
• beige: a light creamy brown
• mousy: a light, not very interesting brown, used only about hair
• chestnut: a deep reddish brown, used about hair and horses
• auburn: a red-brown colour, usually used about hair

Gemstone names as colour adjectives: ruby [deep red], emerald [bright green], amber [yellowy orange], coral [orangey pink], sapphire [deep blue], jade [dark green].

B. Words for talking about colour

• Red, blue and yellow are primary colours; by mixing them you can make other colours.
• Pastel colours are pale shades of colour – pink, mauve, pale purple and pale yellow, for example.
• Strong colours are the opposite of pastels.
• Harsh colours are colours that are unpleasantly strong.
• Vivid colours are strong, bright colours like scarlet or turquoise.
• Fluorescent colours are very bright colours which seem to glow in the dark.
• Electric blues or greens are extremely bright blues or greens.
• If white has a tinge of green, there is a very slight shade of green in it.
• If something is monochrome, it uses only one (or shades of one) colour, e.g. black, white and grey.
• The suffixes -y and -ish show that a colour is partly present, e.g. bluey green, reddish brown.

C. Colour metaphors

• blue = depression (to feel blue); physical or unskilled (blue-collar workers)
• red = anger (to see red = to be very angry); danger (red alert, red flag); special importance (red-carpet treatment); communist or very left-wing in politics (People’s views become less red as they get older.)
• green = nausea (to look green); envy (to turn/go green); care for the environment (green tourism; the Green Party)
• black = depressing or without hope (a black future); anger (to look as black as thunder); illegality or incorrectness (black market, black sheep, black mark); being in debt (in the black)
• grey = lack of clarity (a grey area); brains (grey matter, grey cells)
• white = purity (white as snow, whiter than white); being pale (white as a sheet); a white-knuckle ride; office workers (white-collar workers)