Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are based on colors. 每个民族都有其说话方式以及特殊表达，美国许多日常用语均以颜色为依据的。

Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.

红色是暖色，美国人常用红色来表示“热”。对于一些不公平的事情，他们会说“red hot”。当他们 red hot的时候，表明他们对某事非常生气。很多墨西哥食物中发现的小红辣椒由于其颜色和火辣的味道而被称为red hots。快节奏而大声的音乐很受人们喜爱，他们可能会说这种音乐是red hot，尤其是那种叫Dixieland的爵士乐。

Red is a hot color. Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century.  It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.

粉红是浅一点的红色。有时候人们身体好的时候会说他们in the pink（身体很好，健康）。这个表达第一次被人使用是在二十世纪初，很可能因为婴儿出生时脸色粉红粉红的，于是用in the pink来代表健康。

Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful.  Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song – Mood Indigo – about the deep blue color, indigo. In the words of the song: "You ain't been blue till you've had that Mood Indigo."  Someone who is blue is very sad.

蓝色是冷色。美国传统的blues music与red hot music正好相反。Blues是缓慢，悲伤和深情的。Ellington公爵和他的乐队录制了一首著名的，关于这种深蓝色，靛蓝的歌曲――Mood Indigo（芳心之歌）――歌词中写道："You ain't been blue till you've had that Mood Indigo." 忧郁的人听了会很悲伤。

The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green.  A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.

绿色是树木和草地的自然色彩，但对于人类来说绿色却是不自然的颜色。一个肚子不舒服的人可能会说她感到有点green；一个晕船的乘客可能看起来非常green。（脸色苍白，发青）

Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back side of the paper money.

有时候一个人会很心烦因为他拥有的东西，例如一辆车速快的新车，没有他朋友的好。那个人可能会说他green with envy（非常嫉妒）。有些人会green with envy，因为朋友比他有更多的美元或greenbacks(美钞)。美元叫做greenbacks因为那是纸币背面的颜色。

The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day.  A blacklist is illegal now.  But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.

黑色通常用于感情方面。人们把一个一切都不如意的日子描述为a black day（不走运的日子）。一个大灾难的日期被作为a black day来铭记。一个blacklist(黑名单)现在是违法的。但曾几何时，一些商家拒绝雇用一个属于黑名单上不受欢迎的组织的人。

In some cases, colors describe a situation. A brown out is an expression for a reduction in electric power.  Brown outs happen when there is too much demand for electricity.  The electric system is unable to offer all the power needed in an area. Black outs were common during World War Two. Officials would order all lights in a city turned off to make it difficult for enemy planes to find a target in the dark of night.

在某些情况下，颜色描述一种情况。brown out（把灯火弄暗）是电力减少的一个表达。当用电需求过多的时候就会发生brown out。电力系统不可能提供一个地区所需的所有电力。二战时期brown out是很常见的。官员会命令关掉市内所有灯光以便敌机在黑夜中难以找到袭击目标。