Sve mi boje lepo stoje! - Colours and idiomatic expressions

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Crna boja

Crna ja! Crni on! Jao, crni Milane! (Used when showing pity for someone who is in trouble; or to reproach someone who is doing something wrong)
Crno ti se piše - "Black is written (destined) to you" = you are in an imminent danger

crni hleb - whole wheat bread

crna ovca - black sheep (an exception)
crno tržište - black market

raditi na crno - to work in the black market
crnka = brineta (brunette)

crnac - black man (neutral term, not offensive)

raditi kao crnac - to work (as hard) as a black man
pocrneti na suncu - to get suntanned

Crni dani. Sačuvaj to za crne dane! - Hard days. Save that for the hard days!

Nije sve tako crno. - Not everything is so black (depressing, gloomy).
Da vidimo čija majka crnu vunu prede. - "Let's see whose mother weaves black wool" (When you're threatening, for example your opponent while competing: we'll see whose family is going to wear black clothes in mourning. Used jokingly.)

Siva boja

siva ekonomija - gray economy

potonuti u sivilo - to get drawned into the grayness (monotony, boredom)

sivo nebo, tmurno nebo - gray or gloomy skies

Bela boja (select the text to see it more clearly)

beli hleb  - white bread

ne videti bela dana  - not to see the light of a day (due to working too much etc.)

ne vidim ni belu mačku  - not be able to see not even a white cat (to be too sleepy or tired)

princ na belom konju  - "a prince on a white horse" (prince charming; an ideal man). Often abused in jokes such as: "Čekala sam princa na belom konju. Došao je samo konj."
beo kao sir  - to be as white as cheese

beo kao sneg - to be as white as snow

belo = kokain (u žargonu)

Crvena boja

pocrveneti od stida - to blush with shame

pocrveneti (izgoreti) na suncu - to sunburn

crven kao krv - as red as blood

crvenokosa = riđokosa - redhead

Crvenokožac = Indijanac - "Redskin" (a disparaging term for a Native American)

Plava boja

plavo nebo - blue skies

plave oči - blue eyes

Modra boja

pomodreti - to get blue (about lips or other parts of the body)

modrica - a bruise

plava kosa - blond hair

plavuša   - a blonde, a blond woman

* Plava was originally the colour of the light skies (like the word "blond" itself) and was used to describe people with fair complexion and hair. If someone tells you that your hair is "žuta" instead of "plava", that means that something's wrong with it.  
* Modra is an older word for the blue colour, but nowadays it is rarely used. It is preserved only in some fixed expressions, and it seems to be reserved for something that went wrong: a bruise, or children's blue lips when they spend too many hours in the water.

Žuta boja

žuto sunce - yellow sun

žuto zlato - yellow gold (as opposed to white gold, belo zlato)

žuta štampa - yellow press/journalism
žutica - hepatitis

žuto = heroin (u žargonu)

Roze ili ružičasta

ružičasti slonovi - pink elephants

gledati svet kroz ružičaste naočare - to look at the world through pink glasses

  

Zelena boja

biti zelen - to be immature, inexperienced or (about fruits and vegetables) unripe
zelenilo - nature, parks and trees

zeleno odmara oči - green makes your eyes rest

zimzeleno drvo - an evergreen tree

pozeleneti od muke/ljubomore - to get green out of resentment/jealousy

Šarena

Sve mi boje lepo stoje! - All the colours look nice on me (We say this when commenting about someone in an excessively colourful outfit - with too many different colours)

šaren kao detlić - as multicoloured as a woodpecker

šarena laža - a deceit, a con

blenuti kao tele u šarena vrata - to stare as a calf at a multicoloured door. ("Šta bleneš?" /rude and blunt/ What are you staring at?)

Zadatak - Poveži odgovarajuće delove rečenica:

1) Šta bleneš... 2) U njegovoj porodici su svi završili fakultet, samo on neće da uči: ... 3) Milica je već dva sata u vodi, ... 4) Zelen si ti još, ... 5) Volim plavuše, ... 6) Ma to je šarena laža, ... 7) Juče sam ceo dan bila na suncu, ... 8) Udarila sam prst, ... 9) Kada je otišla na more, bila je... 10) Hajde ako smeš, da vidimo... 11) Kada sam joj rekao da je lepa, ... 12) Crna Marija, ... 13) Radim kao crnac, ... 14) Ne vidim ni belu mačku, ... 15) Jagode su još zelene, ... 16) Kada ih je videla zajedno, ...

a) ... bolje da idem na spavanje. b) ... pa sam pocrvenela. c) ... pocrvenela je od stida. d) ... zašto si to uradila? e) ... kȏ tele u šarena vrata? f) ... ništa ne znaš. g) ... vidi kako je pomodreo! h) ... a nemam para. i) ... nisu zrele. j) ... pozelenela je od ljubomore. k) ... čija majka crnu vunu prede! l) ... bela kao sir, ali tamo je fino pocrnela. m) ... ne veruj ni reč! n) ... on je crna ovca. o) ... sva je pomodrela. p) ... ali volim i lepe crnke.

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