Idiomatic expressions with names of colours are not always transferable to another language. This means that if you use an expression in your native language that involves a colour, this may not make sense in another language. The above image is an example. In English you can be green with envy; whereas in another language envy may be associated with another colour or something entirely different. Likewise, green may have other connotations. Therefore, what is green in your language may not be in another.
I’ve heard many students tell me they read yellow books. I know they are not talking about the colour of the cover but the type of narrative, detective novels. How do I know? Well, there’s nothing in the word ‘yellow’ that indicates this; it is knowledge of the idiomatic expressions used in the speaker’s native language, in this case Italian, that helps me identify the meaning. It is an Italian idiomatic expression, not an English one.
I’m also a victim of assuming that what I say in English can be understood in Italian if I simply substitute the words. For example, many Italian speakers have looked at me with a blank expression on their faces when I’ve attempted to use ‘once in a blue moon’ in Italian expecting that they’d understand ‘rarely’. You should also see the reaction when I say ‘I’m feeling blue’!
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