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Spanish Matters - a blog in English and Spanish for those learning the language

This blog is entitled "Spanish Matters", because it does! Matter, that is. If you have committed to living in Spain, you should also make a commitment to learn some Spanish. So this is a blog about matters Spanish, as well as promoting the notion that Spanish does indeed matter. The blog contains articles in both English and Spanish. Don Pablo hopes it will be helpful to those learning the language.

"Roses are red, violets are blue ....."
Monday, March 17, 2025 @ 5:07 PM

Red is rojo and blue is verde - ¿Qué?

 

Our "Spanish Matters" topic today revolves around colours.

 

Both English and Spanish are very "colourful" languages which use metaphors, similes and symbolism to great effect.

 

But they do not often correspond in the two languages.

 

 

    [Image courtesy of Wild Lark]

 

Colours are used to describe, well, the colour of things. But they are also used figuratively to convey other meanings.

For example, Peter is green with envy; Mary is feeling blue (sad); It was a black day for Liverpool (the "Reds") when they lost the Carabao Cup Final to Newcastle United on 16 March 2025; yellow = cowardly; and so on.

But are they used consistently in this way in English and Spanish? "No way, José!"

 


 

[Image courtesy of Amazon]    

 

red/rojo

Expressions in English like "red mist", "red lines" and a "red-eye" flight do not have Spanish equivalents using the adjective rojo.

Others

For him it's like a red rag to a bull = es lo que más le saca de quicio

to go into the red = contraer deudas

to go as red as a beetroot = ponerse como un tomate

reds under the bed = la amenaza comunista

 

[Cartoon courtesy of LinkedIn]    


blue/azul

Lots of terms and expressions in English, such as blue-jeans, blue joke, and blue-collar worker, do not have equivalents in Spanish using azul.

Others

a blue film = una película porno

His death came out of the blue = Su muerte cayó como una bomba

He's got the blues = Está deprimido

once in a blue moon = de Pascuas a Ramos

you can shout till you're blue in the face  = puedes gritar hasta hartarte

 

[Image courtesy of US Adult Literacy]    
 

yellow/amarillo

Expressions using yellow are commonly translateable between English and Spanish.

However, the yellow press is la prensa sensacionalista and he has a yellow streak (ie is a coward) is translated as es un poco gallina (chicken) or miédica.

 

 

[Image: Adobe Stock]    

green/verde

In English green often has the sense of naive or inexperienced (except in the context of gardening, eg green-fingered), whereas in Spanish it is often a pejorative adjective for a person or a thing that is sexually "dodgy".

Others:

Paqui was very green when it came to relationships with men = Paqui era muy naive .....

 

un viejo verde = a dirty old man

una revista verde = a porn mag

una película verde = a "skin flick" or pornographic movie

 

 

 

[Cartoon courtesy of Facebook]    

Acknowledgements:

Adobe Stock, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, US Adult Literacy, Wild Lark

 

© don Pablo

 

Tags:

16 March 2025, Adobe Stock, Amazon, as red as a beetroot, azul, black day, blue,  blue-collar worker, blue film, blue in the face, blue-jeans, blue joke, Carabao Cup Final, colours, cowardly, don Pablo, English, Facebook, feeling blue, go into the redgreen with envy, LinkedIn, Liverpool, metaphors, Newcastle United, "No way, José!"once in a blue moon, out of the blue, red, "red-eye" flight, "red lines", "red mist", red rag to a bull,  "Reds", reds under the bed, rojo, similes, Spanish, "Spanish Matters", symbolism, the bluesUS Adult Literacy, verde, Wild Lark, yellow, 


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