Green - Idioms and Expressions

Idioms and Expressions

• Having a green thumb. To be passionate about or talented at gardening. The expression was popularized beginning in 1925 by a BBC gardening program.
• Greenhorn. Someone who is inexperienced.
• Green-eyed monster. Refers to jealousy. (See section above on jealousy and envy).
• Greenmail. A term used in finance and corporate takeovers. It refers to the practice of a company paying a high price to buy back shares of its own stock to prevent an unfriendly takeover by another company or businessman. It originated in the 1980s on Wall Street, and originates from the green of dollars.
• Green room. A room at a theater where actors rest when not onstage, or a room at a television studio where guests wait before going on-camera. It originated in the late 17th century from a room of that color at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.
• Greenwashing. Environmental activists sometimes use this term to describe the advertising of a company which promotes its positive environmental practices to cover up its environmental destruction.
• Green around the gills. A description of a person who looks physically ill.