Los colores

Today we are looking at colours in Spanish (los colores) and some of the idioms they’re used in.

The Spanish for white is blanco, which also means light, fair, blank or cowardly. When something is very white, you can say in Spanish that it is  más blanco que el jazmín / más blanco que el papel (whiter than jasmine / paper). If you roll your eyes or look ecstatic you poner los ojos en blanco (make the eyes white). If you haven’t got the fainest idea about something you could say estoy en blanco (I’m in white/blank), which is similar to the phrase ‘my mind’s a blank’, and if you have trouble sleeping you might have a white night – pasar la noche en blanco.

The word for black is negro, which also means dark, swarthy, gloomy, atrocious or awful. If someone you know is a real pessimist, you could say lo ve todo negro (he sees everything as black), and if things are not working out for you, you could say la cosa se pone negra (things are going black). What is called is brown sugar is considered black/dark in Spanish – azúcar negra.

Red or rojo is associated with blushing, lipstick, excitement and rage. You might say that you’re purple with rage in English, but in Spanish you go red with rage – ponerse rojo de la ira.

Green or verde has associations with jealousy and envy – estar verde de envida (to be green with envy), and with ignorance – está verde (he’s very green / he doesn’t know anything). It is also used to indicate that you have had your fill of food or other things – darse un verde (to eat a lot / one’s fill); darse un verde de algo (to have enough of something).