Colour Idioms

Idioms are figurative expressions which make learning a language fun and interesting. All languages have their own idioms. There are thousands of idioms in English. This quiz tests your knowledge of idioms related to colours.

Choose from the list of idioms to complete the sentences:

paint the town red
red tape
blue in the face
once in a blue moon
black sheep
black out
green fingers
green with envy
white elephant
white lie

Lesson by Nasreen, teacher at EC Cape Town English school

• 1. If we do something __, it means we very rarely do it.
  
  red tape
  once in a blue moon
  
  
• 2. Jenna is excellent at gardening, so we say she has __.
  
  black out
  green fingers
  
  
• 3. We didn't want to hurt Anna's feelings, so we told her a __.
  
  white lie
  white elephant
  
  
• 4. Unfortunately, Tom became the __ of the family when he dropped out of university.
  
  paint the town red
  black sheep
  
  
• 5. I spoke to him until I was __, but he just refused to see my side of things.
  
  blue in the face
  once in a blue moon
  
  
• 6. Pauline was __ when she saw Erica's new handbag.
  
  green with envy
  green fingers
  
  
• 7. I hadn't seen my best friend in ages, so we decided to go out and __.
  
  white lie
  paint the town red
  
  
• 8. That new parking area is just a __. It's too far from the building, so it's completely useless.
  
  black sheep
  white elephant
  
  
• 9. I hate seeing blood! It makes me __.
  
  black out
  blue in the face
  
  
• 10. There's always __ to deal with when it comes to starting a new business.
  
  red tape
  green with envy