A. Colour: Range and Intensity

Unit 15

A

Words and expressions for specific colours

pitch black: intensely black, used about darkness, night, etc. (pitch is an older word for tar)

jet black: intensely black, used about hair, eyes, etc. (jet is a black semi-precious stone)

scarlet: brilliant red, the colour of traditional British letter boxes

crimson: strong deep red

shocking pink: an extremely bright pink

ginger: orangy red, used about hair and cats

navy: dark blue, used about clothes, not eyes

turquoise: greenish blue, used about fabrics, paint, sea, etc. but not usually eyes

beige: a light creamy brown

mousy: a light not very interesting brown, used only about hair

chestnut: a deep reddish brown, used about hair and horses

auburn: a red-brown colour, usually used about hair

 

 

B

Words for talking about colour

Red, blue and yellow are primary colours,by mixing them together you can make other colours. Pastel colours are pale shades of colour - pink, mauve [pale purple] and pale yellow, for example. Strong colours are the opposite of pastels. Vivid colours are strong, bright colours like scarlet or turquoise. Fluorescent colours are very bright colours which seem to glow in the dark. Electric blues or greens are extremely bright blues or greens. If white has a tinge of green, there is a very slight shade of green in it. If something is monochrome, it uses only one (or shades of one) colour, e.g. black, white and grey. The suffixes -y and -ish show that a colour is partly present, e.g. bluey green, reddish brown.

C

Colour metaphors

blue = depression (to feel blue);pornographic or indecently referring to sex (blue movie, blue joke);physical or unskilled (blue-collar workers)

red = anger (to see red = to be very angry); danger (red alert, a red flag); special importance (The royal visitor was given red carpet treatment. The day we met will always be a red-letter day for me.); left-wing in politics (red point of view)

green = nausea (to look green; People who are seasick often turn/go green and sometimes vomit.); envy (She turned green with envy when she saw her friend's diamond engagement ring.); care for the environment (green tourism; the Green Party)

black = depressing or without hope (a black future);anger (to look as black as thunder); illegality or incorrectness (black market, black sheep of the family, black mark). During the war people bought many goods on the black market. If I don't finish this report in time, that'll be another black mark against my name. My brother was the black sheep of the family and left home at seventeen.

grey = lack of clarity (a grey area);brains (grey matter, grey cells)

white =purity (white as snow, whiter than white); being pale (She was afraid and went

white as a sheet; a white knuckle [terrifying] ride at a theme park); office workers (white-collar workers)

Exercises

Look at A and answer these questions.

1. Which four of these colours can be used to describe hair?

2. Which three of these colours might be used to describe an animal?

3. Which of the shades of red would you be most likely to use about the sky at sunset?

4. Which four of these colours are the most vivid?

5. Which of the blue and brown colours are used about shoes?

6. What colour is the traditional London bus?

7. Would you prefer to have mousy hair or auburn hair? Why?

8. When you are outside at night and you can't see, how can you describe the darkness?

 

 

Look at C. Match the situation on the left with the response on the right.

1. That child looks a bit green.	No, they make me feel sick.
2. He's always in a blue mood these days.	Yes, it's not at all clear what we should do.
3. That TV programme always makes him see red.	Yes, but they need qualifications.
4. It’s a bit of a grey area, isn't it?	I think he's going to be sick.
5. They seem to be trying to blacken his name.	Yes, they want to do their bit for environment.
6. Do you like white knuckle rides?	Yes, he can't stand the presenter.
7. White-collar workers earn more.	Yes, ever since his wife left him.
8. They're going to vote for the Greens.	I wonder what they've got against him?

 

Look up the colours below in an English learner's dictionary. Write down any new and useful expressions in example sentences of your own.

black

white

red

blue

yellow

green

 

 

Advertisers often use exotic words with special associations to indicate colour. Look at the words in the box and answer the questions. Use a dictionary if necessary.

magnolia	strawberry	violet	ruby	emerald
burgundy	forget-me-not	jade	amber	cornflower
poppy	sapphire	turquoise	lime	coral

 

1. Which of the words in the box refer to precious or semi-precious stones?

2. Which of the words in the box refer to flowers?

3. Which of the words in the box refer to food or drink?

4. Which of the words in the box would be used to describe pastel shades?

5. Divide the words in the box into the basic colours that they refer to:

pink/red blue green other (specify colour)

6. Which two of the precious stone words are most likely to be used to describe the sea?

7. Which two of the flowers words is a romantic novelist most likely to use to describe his heroine's eyes?

8. Which of the words are (a) purplish red (b) creamy white and (c) yellowy orange?

 

 

Choose ten words or expressions that you particularly wish to learn from this unit and write them down in sentences of your own.

B. The Plastic Arts

Unit 16

A

Read this extract from an article about the British public's attitude to modern art.

You have heard it so often, that all those modern artists are only pulling the wool over the public's eyes ¹,and it is easy to laugh, in a superior kind of way, both at the more extreme examples of contemporary art and at the apparent philistinism ²ofits detractors ³.But, almost by stealth, the British public has discovered it perhaps does like modern art after all. Has the public wised up ⁴,or has the art dumbed down ⁵? If people find that contemporary art is not so difficult or complicated or highbrow and impenetrable as they once thought, it could also mean that art is somehow becoming less intelligent, less sophisticated than it was.

 

¹ deceiving

² inability to appreciate art or culture (disapproving)

³ critics

⁴ become more sophisticated

⁵ become less intellectual (usually to appeal to a mass audience)

 

 

B

The same article puts the attitudes to contemporary art in a historical perspective.

The current enthusiasm for modern art - there are more people visiting Tate Modern ¹ every week than there were people in Florence at the height of the Renaissance ²- appears to be more than a fad ³.If people got nothing from what they see there, they would vote with their feet ⁴.At the end of the 19th century a lot of people had problems with Impressionism ⁵,and, later, when confronted with cubist ⁶paintings, the gallery-going public had problems with those too. The surrealists ⁷were often deemed ⁸mad, but liking surrealism ⁹is perfectly sane and acceptable, and it appears everywhere, from posters to advertising campaigns. As a result, we are all now more visually literate ¹⁰than before, more immune to ¹¹ shocks, inured to ¹²surprises.

 

¹ new modern art gallery in London

² period of new interest in the arts in Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries, especially in Italy

³ a short enthusiasm for something (disapproving)

⁴ stop coming

^{5, 6, 7, 9} types and artist and schools of art of the last 150 years

⁸ considered (formal)

¹⁰ educated with regard to art

^{11, 12} not affected by

 

 

C

Here are some words that can be used to comment on art. The opposites are in brackets.

highbrow: intended for educated, intelligent people, disapproving (lowbrow)

impenetrable: extremely difficult to understand (transparent)

sophisticated: showing advanced skills and understanding (primitive)

challenging: demanding considerable effort to be understood (undemanding)

dazzling: inspiring great admiration because it is brilliant in some way (pedestrian)

evocative: calling up images and memories (uninspiring)

exquisite: having rare beauty or delicacy (clumsy)

intriguing: interesting because it is strange or mysterious (dreary)

peerless: better than any other (run-of-the-mill)

tongue-in-cheek: not intended to be taken seriously despite appearing serious (earnest)

D