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Teaching Forum > Volume
41 > Issue
1
The Lighter Side
Idioms with Blue
A full moon rises over the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall
in Washington, D.C. on September 30, 1993 in this background photograph.
It was the second full moon in that same calendar month referred
to as a blue moon. Since this happens infrequently, the term
has become an idiom for other events that seldom happen. This idiom
and other examples are listed below.
Once in a blue moon: very seldom
The wife complained that her husband brought her flowers only once
in a blue moon.
The parents allowed their children to go to the movies once in
a blue moon.
Out of the blue: unexpectedly, unplanned
I hadn't seen my cousin in ten years, so his phone call yesterday
really came out of the blue.
While brainstorming for possible solutions to the problem, out
of the blue Rick came up with a great idea.
Blue collar workers: laborers and factory employees, sometimes
union workers (in contrast to white collar workers, who are
professionals and office workers)
The blue collar workers planned a demonstration to protest
the exaggerated high salaries of the company president and vice-president.
The government reported that blue collar employment rates
went up last month.
Blue chip stock: a share of a large company that has high
value
For the third day in a row, the blue chips were lower when
trading ended at the stock exchange.
Her financial advisor recommended that she buy blue chip stock
as an investment.
Blue in the face: pale from exhaustion or frustration
Her jokes made me laugh so hard I turned blue in the face.
The students argued until they were blue in the face, but
the teachers still make them complete their homework.
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