Once in a blue moon
(and other colourful idioms)

    The topic for last week's one point lesson was How often do you...? One of the phrases we met was: once in a blue moon. We can use it like this:

    1. How often do you often go to karaoke?
    2. Me? Once in a blue moon. I mean... you know I hate karaoke. I only go when I have to.

    Once in a blue moon is a colourful way of saying almost never. The English language has many idioms connected with colour. For example we can say things like:
    • My sister, June, is the black sheep of the family.
    • My hands were blue with the cold.
    • In my workplace we have two canteens: one for white-collar staff, and another for blue collar staff.

    NOTES:
    • The black sheep (of the family) = a person who is different from the rest of the family, and who is considered bad or embarrassing. (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 6th edition, 2000).
    • White-collar staff/workers = people who sit at a desk and do office work.
    • Blue Collar staff/workers = people who do physical work like  carrying things or operating machines.

    In the exercise below, you will have a chance to learn more about colour idioms

    Exercise

    In this exercise we have 4 groups of idioms. One group is GREEN, one group is WHITE, one group is RED, and one group is BLUE. What is the colour for each group?

    GROUP ONE
    1. You can argue with me until you're _____ in the face but I won't change my mind!
    2. The news of Jack's resignation came right out of the _______. It took us all by surprise.
    3. She's the teacher's favourite - his little ______-eyed girl.

    GROUP TWO
    1. We heard a strange noise in the office last night. So, we phoned the police. They came along, quietly entered the building and caught the thief _____-handed.
    2. When my mother came to visit me in Japan, I took her along to the City Hall to meet some of the staff. She was amazed when they gave her the _____ carpet treatment.
    3. We overspent our budget last year and now we're a few thousand pounds in the _____.

    GROUP THREE
    1. I hear you're going to Hawaii next week. That's great. I'm really ______ with envy.
    2. My brother-in-law's got ______ fingers. You should see all the flowers in his garden, and as for his rose bushes... fantastic. (American English: he's got a _____ thumb).
    3. We were driving along this narrow mountain road, and George was feeling pretty bad. Then someone offered hm a bacon sandwich, and he just went ______. It's a wonder he didn't throw up.

    GROUP FOUR
    1. They still haven't been able to get any tenants for that new office building they built last year.  It's turned into a real _______ elephant.
    2. Sometimes there are situations when you have to tell a few ______lies to save face.
    3. What's wrong? You're trembling and you're as ______ as a sheet. Have you had an accident, or something?

    Please click here to check your answers and to read some comments about the language.
    Click below if you want to try some of my other one-point lessons:
    Bob's One-Point Weekly Lesson Archive

    © Robert E. Jones, 2006