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'Colourful' language in English

Updated: Sep 5, 2023


先日、ある生徒さんと先月のブログでご紹介した’Rhubarb’のお話をしていた時、日本語の「真っ赤なウソ」の話につながり、さらにそこから、日本語と英語では、色の感じ方も違う場合があるという話題になりました。


日本語の「赤」は、「明らか」、「まったく」の意味があるらしいのですが、英語ではどうなのでしょう?ここでは、赤も含め、色が入った英語の表現をご紹介します。


まずは、このブログのタイトルに使った表現から。


colourful language: the f-wordなどの普通は言ってはいけないようなoffensiveな単語や表現をたくさん使った言い方という意味です。


例文: Joe was quite angry with you. He said he would never want to see you again, only he said it in slightly more colourful language.


Joeが実際に言ったのは、‘F**k me! He’s such a w**ker. I would never f**king want to see his f**king face again in my entire f**king life.’ だった。


赤 – Red

see red: to become very angry

例文: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made many people see red.

be in the red: to owe more money than you have (赤字)

例文: My business had been in the red during the pandemic, but we were finally back in the black last month.


red hot: very hot

例文: Be careful! The pan was in the oven and the handle’s red hot.


red herring: 重要な事から注意を他へそらすもの

例文: It’s an interesting idea, but it’s a complete red herring. Let’s go back to the main point.


catch someone red-handed: 実際に悪いことをしている時に捕まえる(現行犯)

例文: Little James was caught red-handed opening his birthday presents early.


roll out the red carpet/red-carpet treatment: 重要な来客に丁重なお出迎え・おもてなしをする

例文: My fiancé’s mum is coming to visit me today. I’m rolling out the red carpet.


白 - White

white lie: 人を褒める為、人を傷付けないようにするためにつく軽い嘘

例文: A: I love my new hat. What do you think?

B: It looks really nice on you. (本当はそう思っていない=a white lie)

as white as a sheet: 病気などで顔がすごく青白い

例文: Are you all right? You look as white as a sheet.


a white flag: 降参

例文: We still have a chance. It’s too early to wave the white flag.


whitewash: 真実を隠してもみ消す

例文: What she’s just told us must be a whitewash. It doesn’t make any sense.


黒 - Black

black and white: 考え方などが単純で、両極端しかない

例文: She has a tendency to see the issue in black and white. It’s a lot more complicated than that.


black out: 気絶する

例文: I’m OK now, but I felt as if I was going to black out.


blackout: 停電して真っ暗

例文: The power failure in July 2019 in Manhattan resulted in a three-hour blackout.


black market: 闇市

例文: If cigarettes were banned, there would be black markets everywhere.


blackmail: 恐喝(する)、ゆすり(をする)

例文: He was blackmailed into lying in the court.

black sheep: 家族や仲間から厄介者、ろくでなしと思われている人

例文: I’d always been the black sheep of the family, but my recent success made them proud of me.


pitch black: 真っ暗

例文: Without stars in the sky it’s pitch black in the field.


グレイ - Grey

grey area: あいまいな領域(対処法・分類・責任者などが)

例文: Who’s responsible for the failure is a grey area.


緑色 - Green

green with envy: 羨ましい

例文: What? You saw Noel Gallagher in John Lewis? I’m green with envy!


have green fingers: お花などを育てること(ガーデニング)が得意

例文: I love flowers but unfortunately I don’t have green fingers to grown my own. アメリカ英語ではhave a green thumb


be/go green: 地球の環境を配慮する、エコな活動/生活をする

例文: They’ve promised to go green by using paper straws.

give the green light: プロジェクトやプランにゴーサインを出す

例文: My proposal was given the green light and I can now pick my team for the project.


青 - Blue

feel blue: 憂鬱な気持ち、悲しくて夢も希望もない(Depressed)

例文: Recent news about Ukraine makes me feel blue.


out of the blue: 思いがけなく、予告なしに

例文: My old friend dropped by out of the blue this afternoon. It was a wonderful surprise.


a bolt from the blue: 予想もしなかった突然の出来事

例文: Russian invasion of Ukraine was a total bolt from the blue.

once in a blue moon: たま〜に(very rarely)

例文: A: Do you still see your friends from college?

B: Once in a blue moon.

茶色 - Brown

browned off: うんざりしている、あきあきしている

例文: I’ve had enough. I’m completely browned off by the situation.


金色 - Gold

golden opportunity: とてもいいチャンス

例文: A: Are you going to accept their offer?

B: It’s a bit risky but I can’t turn it down. It’s a golden opportunity.


golden handshake: 高額の退職

例文: He got a golden handshake when he was made redundant.


銀色 - Silver

born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth: お金持ちの家生まれ

例文: A: Mick seems well off. He always buys all of us a drink.

B: Yeah, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.


give/hand/offer something on a silver platter: 簡単に(ほとんど努力していないのに)成功させてあげる

例文: I worked very hard to get to where I am. I wasn’t handed it on a silver platter.


黄色 - Yellow

yellow-belly: 臆病者

例文: A: Why did he turn down that great job offer?

B: He was scared to have responsibility. He’s a bit yellow-bellied.


ピンク - Pink

be tickled pink: とても嬉しい

例文: The kids were tickled pink to see ‘real' Mickey Mouse in Disneyland.


in the pink: とても健康(少し古い言い方)

例文: At the age of 95, Queen Elizabeth is still in the pink.


色- Colour

off-colour: 少し体調が悪い

例文: You look a bit off-colour. Are you feeling OK?


他にも色が入った表現は'色々'あります。どんどん覚えて、是非、表現力や理解力を伸ばして下さい。


イギリス英語の発音とリスニング力アップに特化したレッスンが好評。

Zoomレッスンなので、世界中どこからでも受講可能です。

興味がある方はお気軽にお問い合わせ下さい。

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