中文里关于颜色的成语不胜枚举，英文也是如此。不过，因为文化背景的差异，相同的颜色在不同的语言里有可能表示完全不一样的意思。那么，本期我们就选择其中一些有代表性的词组，了解它们背后的故事吧！
发音：美式发音
语速：110词/分钟
使用方法：精听+听写
Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are based on colours.
Red is a hot colour. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their colour and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
● 红色给人的感觉是如火焰般热情洋溢，因此在英语中，red常常用来表达跟“热度、热量”有关的意思。“red hot”一词在很多场合都会用到：当人们碰到不公平的事情时，会用“red hot”来表达自己的强烈不满和愤怒；许多墨西哥食品中的红色小辣椒因为颜色和味道的缘故，也可以用“red hots”来表示；另外，很多人喜欢节奏快且声音大的音乐，尤其是起源于新奥尔良的迪克西兰爵士乐，人们会用“red hot”（热情奔放）来形容此类音乐。
Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink colour that shows that they are in good health.
● 粉红色相对于红色来说就可爱多了。或许是因为刚出生的婴儿若是拥有粉红色的肌肤就表示他非常健康，于是，“in the pink”（非常健康）从20世纪初期开始在美国开始广泛使用。
Blue is a cool colour. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song—Mood Indigo—about the deep blue colour, indigo. In the words of the song: “You ain’t been blue till you’ve had that Mood Indigo.” Someone who is blue is very sad.
● 蓝色代表着忧郁。起源于美国黑人的“blues music”（蓝调，布鲁士音乐）与“red hot”是刚好相反的。这种音乐忧郁、缓慢，适合在情绪低落的时候聆听。
The colour green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural colour for humans. A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
● 不用多说，大家都知道绿色的象征意义。在中文里，我们会用“面色发青”来形容身体不适的病人，英语里也一样，green就是表达了这样的意思。
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the colour of the back side of the paper money.
● 一些跟green有关的词组却不是表达我们所熟知的意思。美钞的背面是绿色的，因此美元也叫greenbacks。如果你的朋友拥有你没有的东西而令你十分眼红，我们可以说“green with envy”（十分妒忌）。
The colour black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. A blacklist is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.
● 在英语中，与black有关的词组很常见，通常表示倒霉或是禁止的意思。我们可以用“black day”来表示这一天麻烦不断或是发生了重大灾难，人们的心里犹如乌云密布，很不愉快，例如西方国家会把耶稣受难日称为“Black Friday”（黑色星期五）。“blacklist”（黑名单）现在是不合法的，但是在以前，雇主们会参照黑名单来决定是否雇佣应聘者。
In some cases, colours describe a situation. A brown out is an expression for a reduction in electric power. Brown outs happen when there is too much demand for electricity. The electric system is unable to offer all the power needed in an area. Black outs were common during World WarⅡ. Officials would order all lights in a city turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes to find a target in the dark of night.
● 当供电量不足以应付需求量时，就会出现“brown out”（把灯光弄暗），当然，这是出于节省电力的原因考虑的。不过在二战时期，为了防止遭到空袭，官方有时会要求“black out”（熄灭所有的灯），这样敌方就无法找到袭击的目标了。