Idioms & Phrases
🔒 Log in to trackColour and food idioms
🔒 Log in to trackIn English idioms each colour carries a feeling, and food is used to judge a task or a person. Learn the colour or food and you know the family of the meaning. Watch the look-alike pairs, such as red tape and red-letter day.
Colours carry feelings
Each colour usually points to one family of meaning.
| Colour | Usual meaning | Idiom | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| blue | unexpected, rare | out of the blue | suddenly, without warning |
| blue | unexpected, rare | once in a blue moon | very rarely |
| red | anger | see red | become suddenly angry |
| red | officialdom | red tape | too many official rules causing delay |
| red | special day | a red-letter day | a day to remember |
| green | envy | green with envy | very jealous |
| black | disgrace | a black sheep | the one who brings shame to a group |
| white | costly, useless | a white elephant | costly to keep and of no use |
| grey | unclear | a grey area | a matter not clearly right or wrong |
| silver | wealth | born with a silver spoon | born into a rich family |
Example: A flyover that nobody uses but costs lakhs to maintain is a white elephant. It is a possession that costs much and gives no benefit.
Watch out for red
Red has three families.
- See red means to become angry.
- Red tape means too many official rules causing delay.
- Red-letter day means a happy, important day. Special days were marked in red on calendars.
Examiners put these three against each other.
Food idioms are judgements
A food idiom uses something we eat to judge a task or a person.
| Idiom | Judgement | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a piece of cake | easy | a very easy task |
| a hard nut to crack | difficult | a difficult problem or person |
| butter someone up | flattery | praise someone to get a favour |
| food for thought | thinking | something worth thinking about |
| a hot potato | controversy | an issue everyone avoids handling |
| in a pickle | trouble | in a difficult situation |
| the apple of one's eye | love | the person loved most |
| spill the beans | secret | reveal a secret |
| the salt of the earth | goodness | a very good, dependable person |
| carry coals to Newcastle | useless supply | take something to a place that has plenty |
| a storm in a teacup | fuss | a big quarrel over a small matter |
Example: Maths is a piece of cake for Arjun. Cake means easy, so maths is very easy for him.
Look-alike pairs
- The apple of one's eye (most loved) and the apple of discord (cause of a quarrel).
- A piece of cake (easy) and a hot potato (a touchy issue).
- Red tape (delay) and red-letter day (a happy day).
- Born with a silver spoon (rich from birth) and every cloud has a silver lining (some good in every bad situation).
Blank-filling questions
A sentence has a blank and four idioms as options.
- Decide what the sentence needs: a useless thing, a small fuss, a happy day.
- Pick the idiom of that family.
- Check the grammar. A blank after was needs a noun phrase such as a red-letter day.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Colour idiom meaning
The idiom holds a colour word: blue, red, green, black, white, grey, silver.
Name the colour.
Recall its usual feeling.
Match the feeling to an option.
Cross out the literal option.
A colour keeps one feeling across many idioms.
Once in a blue moon: (a) very rarely (b) at night (c) very often (d) in a hurry
Show solutionHide solution
Blue stands for rare or unexpected.
At night is literal.
Very often is the opposite.
(a) very rarely
Food idiom meaning
The idiom names a food: cake, nut, butter, potato, pickle, beans, milk, apple, salt.
Name the food.
Recall the judgement it gives.
Match to an option.
Food idioms judge a task or a person.
A piece of cake: (a) a birthday treat (b) a task needing almost no effort (c) a costly gift (d) a sweet dish
Show solutionHide solution
Birthday treat and sweet dish are literal.
Cake stands for easy.
The meaning is a task needing almost no effort.
(b) a task needing almost no effort
Look-alike twin
One option is the meaning of a twin idiom that shares the colour or food word.
Name the twin idiom.
Recall its meaning.
Cross that meaning out.
The twin is planted for readers who match only the colour.
Red tape: (a) a happy day (b) excessive official delay (c) sudden anger (d) a costly item
Show solutionHide solution
A happy day is red-letter day.
Sudden anger is see red.
Red tape is excessive official delay.
(b) excessive official delay
Fill the blank with an idiom
A sentence has a blank and four idioms as options.
Decide what the sentence needs.
Pick the idiom of that family.
Read the sentence again.
The sentence names the need before the options do.
The flyover that nobody uses but costs lakhs to maintain is a ___. (a) white elephant (b) black sheep (c) red-letter day (d) hot potato
Show solutionHide solution
The sentence describes something costly and useless.
Black sheep is a person and red-letter day is a happy day.
White elephant fits.
(a) white elephant
Choose the idiom for a meaning
The stem gives a meaning and the options are four idioms of one colour or food family.
Say the meaning in two words.
Match each idiom to its meaning.
Pick the exact fit.
The wrong options are real idioms with other meanings.
A person who brings shame to his family: (a) black sheep (b) white elephant (c) dark horse (d) grey area
Show solutionHide solution
Shame points to black.
White elephant is a costly useless thing.
Grey area is unclear.
(a) black sheep
Shortcuts that save time
Say the colour and its feeling before you read the options. Blue means sudden or rare, and the options then sort themselves.
Out of the blue: (a) completely unexpectedly (b) very sadly (c) after a long wait (d) at sea
Show solutionHide solution
Blue stands for unexpected.
At sea is literal.
Completely unexpectedly fits.
(a) completely unexpectedly
Ask what verdict the food gives: easy, hard, flattery or trouble. That is the meaning.
Write the twins on one card: red tape and red-letter day, apple of the eye and apple of discord.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Mixing red tape with a red-letter day.
Red tape is delay. A red-letter day is a happy day.
Mixing the apple of one's eye with the apple of discord.
The first is most loved. The second is a cause of a quarrel.
Reading a food idiom literally (a piece of cake as a treat).
Food idioms judge a task or a person. Cake means easy.
Filling a blank without checking the grammar.
After was, choose a noun phrase such as a red-letter day.
Learning colours without their feelings.
Learn the feeling: blue unexpected, green envy, black disgrace.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Blue is sudden or rare. Red is anger, delay or a special day. Green is envy. Black is shame. White is costly and useless. Grey is unclear.
Food is judgement: cake easy, nut hard, butter flattery, potato touchy, pickle trouble, apple loved.
Learn look-alike pairs together.
In blanks, decide the need first, then the family, then check grammar.
Practice: 15 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 4 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.