A | The colour represents the way you earn money. |
B | Somebody who is different from the others. |
C | Life is rarely so clear. |
D | You knew who was who. |
E | The real world is full of lies. |
F | It’s a more official way. |
G | Not all lies are harmful. |
H | Black is not always negative. |
BLACK & WHITE
4.1. B|b()
A ‘black sheep’ is a person who ignores tradition or does things that are not accepted. A family may have a member who is not like them. This person brings shame to his/her group and is not welcome at family meetings.
4.2. D|d()
‘White hats’ and ‘black hats’ were symbols of the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ in American western movies. The early movies were made with no sound, so the film directors put a white hat on the hero and a black hat on the bad guy. That way even a small child could tell who the hero was.
4.3. H|h()
Black is also used in some expressions that describe good things. Being ‘in the black’ s a good situation. It is a business expression that means a company has made a profit. The expression comes from the colour of ink used in the books that record a company’s profits or losses. Profits are written in black and losses are written in red.
4.4. A|a()
A ‘white collar’ job is the kind of job many people want to have. It is a job where you work at a desk, using your brain instead of your muscles. Usually ‘white-collar’ jobs pay more than ‘blue-collar’ jobs - jobs where you use your physical strength.
4.5. F|f()
Some expressions use black and white together. Someone may say that your suggestion sounds all right, but he wants to see it in black and white. He wants to get a formal document in writing or in print – black ink on white paper.
4.6. C|c()
Some people see things only in black and white. In this expression, black and white represent opposite extremes. Most things in the world aren’t so simple. One side of an issue is not all good and the other side is not all bad. In the real world there are many grey areas where black and white mix to represent the true situation.
4.7. G|g()
We know that we should tell the truth, but is it always good? Sometimes people say something which is not true because they don’t want to hurt their friends or relatives. In other words they tell ‘a white lie’.
adapted from ‘Words and their Stories’