French Expressions With Colors - Les Expressions de Couleur

Have you ever wanted to learn French idioms and expressions with colors? Here you will find a complete and comprehensive list with English translations.
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BLEU BLUE

passer quelqu’un au bleu to brush something under the carpet
se faire avoir comme un bleu fall for something hook, line, and sinker
porter un bleu de travail to wear overalls
être un cordon-bleu to be a master chef
cuisson au bleu poaching (in cooking)
sang bleu aristocrat, posh person

ROUGE RED

avoir le nez rouge to drink too much
dérouler le tapis rouge à quelqu’un to roll out the red carpet to somebody
être dans le rouge to be in hot water
être la lanterne rouge to be at the bottom of the class
être rouge comme une tomate to turn beet red
être sur liste rouge to have an unlisted number
les comptes sont dans le rouge the accounts are in the red
Avoir la mémoire de poisson rouge to have a horrible memory

NOIR BLACK

avoir un œil au beurre noir to have a black eye
broyer du noir to feel depressed
c’est écrit noir sur blanc It’s written in black and white, very clear
darder un regard noir sur quelqu’un to give somebody a dirty look
jeter un regard noir à quelqu’un to give somebody a dirty look
être dans le noir to be in the dark, not know what to do
être noir de monde to be packed, full of people
avoir un œil au beurre noir to have a black eye, shiner
travailler au noir to not delcare your income
voir tout en noir to be negative, be pessimistic

BLANC WHITE

blanc comme un cachet d’aspirine to be white as a sheet, very pale
blanc comme un linge white as a sheet, as white as a sheet, very ill
être blanc comme neige pure as snow, very innocent
c’est bonnet blanc et blanc bonnet six of one and half a dozen of the other, the same thing
de but en blanc directly, point blank
donner un blanc-seing à quelqu’un to give somebody a blank check
être connu comme le loup blanc to be well known
faire chou blanc to draw a blank hit a wall
manger son pain blanc enjoy something while it lasts, to enjoy the time
parler dans le blanc des yeux to be upfront and speak frankly

VERT GREEN

avoir le feu vert to have a green light, a go-ahead
donner le feu vert à quelqu’un to give somebody the go-ahead
clôturer dans le vert to close in the green (stocks)
donner une volée de bois vert à quelqu’un to hit hard, thrash
être au vert to spend time in the country side
être vert de jalousie to be very jealous
gagné sur tapis vert to win (often sports game) by forfeit
mettre au vert to take somebody to the countryside
se mettre au vert to go on the run (from the police)
numéro vert toll-free number
recevoir une volée de bois vert to get reprimanded
vert de peur to be very scared
vert de rage to be extremely angry

ROSE PINK

à l’eau de rose sentimental, mushy
ça sent pas la rose it doesn’t smell good
être frais comme une rose to be as fit as a fiddle
téléphone rose adult chat line
Minitel rose adult chat line
roman à l’eau de rose romance novel
voir la vie en rose to see life through rose-tinted glasses
tout n’est pas rose it’s not ideal, a bed of roses
il n’y a pas de rose sans épines every rose has its thorn

MARRON BROWN

un avocat marron a crooked, dishonest lawyer
un marron runaway slave
un marron a punch, slug

It’s video time! Watch Pascal teacher some French color expressions.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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