All the colours of the rainbow

Have you heard of red-letter days, blue moons or green horns? There are many more colourful expressions such as these; white elephants, black markets and yellow pages, to name just a few. There are even white lies! Do you know any of these or seen any of them, like white elephants and green horns? Let's have a look at each of them.

A red-letter day is a very special and important day that is remembered because of something good or special that happened that day. The expression comes from the 18th century practice of highlighting a festive day in red in the calendar.

Has anyone ever seen a blue moon? Never; the moon is never blue. Then why do people say 'once in a blue moon'? It is just an expression to convey the idea that something happens very, very rarely.

Every child knows that blood is red. But some are classed as 'blue-blooded'. .Who are these blue-blooded people? There is no one with blue blood, all blood is red. Blue-blood is an expression meaning 'noble birth'. The nobility are the blue-bloods.

Do you know any blue-eyed boy? Some races like those in temperate zones have very fair skins and blue eyes. Their pupils may be pale blue, whereas ours are black or a deep brown. But a blue-eyed boy is not one with blue eyes.

He is a favourite of his superiors, often treated in a special way, given advantages others don't have. Sometimes, an expression like this - 'he is the director's blue-eyed boy - is used in a derogatory sense (manner of insulting). I do not know the origin of this expression.

While the blue-eyed boy is very special, green-eyed is a mark of jealousy. A green horn is someone lacking experience, not mature. We know that unripe fruits are green. They turn yellow, orange or red only after they mature and ripen. So is a green horn, immature, inexperienced and new to the job he/she has undertaken.

You would have read or heard of green belts in cities. What is this green belt? It is an area of open land around a city, where building is strictly controlled. Often, there is public opposition when roads are cut into the green belt.

Are there white elephants? I don't know. I have never seen even a picture of a white elephant, but there are said to be elephants lighter in colour than the common elephant.

These elephants are called 'ali aththu'. If you have read or listened to the story of Vessantara - one of the popular Jataka stories - this word would be familiar. King Vessantara gives his 'ali athaa', the white elephant, who has the power to induce rain, to a delegation that comes from Kalinga.

This country has been devastated (destroyed) by a long drought. Vessantara's people were furious that their priceless possession had been given away. The 'white elephant' that we come across in the English language has no such magical powers. A white elephant is something useless and often expensive to maintain, hence even a burden.

Most of you are familiar with e-mail. Blackmail isn't anything like e-mail or air mail or other types of mail. Blackmail is demanding money or forcing someone to do something, on the threat of disclosing a secret or unpleasant information about that person. To blackmail is to force someone to do something by such threats.

You would surely have heard your elders talk about the black market and of black marketeers. The black market is the buying and selling at unreasonable prices, and a person who does this kind of buying and selling is a black marketeer.

There are black legs and green fingers. Let's have a look at them. It is usually when strikes are on, that we hear of black legs. A black leg is a strike-breaker. He/she works when fellow workers are on strike.

If you have green fingers, you are gifted with an ability to grow plants. Any thing you plant is sure to grow.

What are yellow pages? Are they pages in a book? Yes, in the telephone directory. A section of the directory or a separate directory will consist of yellow pages listing the companies and organisations according to the goods or services they offer, and their telephone numbers. Let's end this survey of colourful expressions with a white lie.

It is a harmless lie on a small matter or a lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings.

Sumana Saparamadu