Here's one more term describing a kind of writing. It also starts our new theme: color words.

purple prose – prose that is too ornate
[Why 'purple'? Perhaps for the alliteration, as in our first quote.]

The writing eventually dissolves into puddles of purple prose … . To wit: "... she threw herself into my arms, and we cried there in the pool of golden light surrounding our daughter." And, "I thought that I had cried myself out downstairs, but hot tears coursed down my cheeks, spilling into her hair."
– Toronto Star, Jan. 21, 2007

I've got a very high threshold for purple prose, and I thought at first I was going to like this book: it's full of the lush, chewy writing that normally enchants me. … - but then I realised all he was doing was clubbing me to death with it …
– Scotsman, Jan. 5, 2007

purple prose

Pannus purpureus ('purple rags/patches') was coined by the poet Horace in his Ars Poetica, ll.14–21. (A warning to the sensitive and delicate, Roman poetry does not rhyme and it has a meter based on vocalic quantity not stress accent.)

Inceptis grauibus plerumque et magna professis
purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter
adsuitur pannus, cum lucus et ara Dianae
et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros
aut flumen Rhenum aut pluuius describitur arcus;
sed nunc non erat his locus. Et fortasse cupressum
scis simulare; quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
nauibus, aere dato qui pingitur?

Your opening shows great promise,
and yet flashy purple patches;
as when describing a sacred grove, or the altar of Diana,
or a stream meandering through fields,
or the river Rhine, or a rainbow;
but this was not the place for them. If you can realistically render a cypress tree,
would you include one when commissioned
to paint a sailor in the midst of a shipwreck?

We've talked about styles of writing. Here's a colorful style of speech.

silver-tongued – with the power of fluent and persuasive speech; eloquent

Diplomacy is the skill that matters, the silver-tongued art of opening doors.
– Times Online, Jan. 31, 2007 (today)

I took myself down to the Tally Ho Tavern
To buy me a bottle of beer,
And I sat me down by a tender young maiden
Whose eyes were as dark as her hair.
And as I was searching from bottle to bottle
For something un-foolish to say,
That silver-tongued devil just slipped from the shadows
And smilingly stole her away.
– Kris Kristopherson, The Silver-Tongued Devil and I

'Black Friday' (or "Black Monday', 'Black Tuesday', etc.) has long meant 'a day of catastrophe in the financial markets'. But we'll give the new meaning that arose about two decades ago.

Black Friday – U.S.: the day after Thanksgiving [Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November], traditional start of Christmas shopping. Retailers' sales jump; they often offer special promotions.

Don't assume that the best deals are on Black Friday. … retailers typically offer even steeper discounts as you get closer to Christmas … "Black Friday" is THE most maddening shopping day of the holiday season. Shoppers should be prepared to deal with heavy traffic and packed stores.
– NBC4-TV, Los Angeles, Oct. 2, 2006

'Black Friday' has a more recent spin-off.

Cyber Monday – U.S.: the Monday after Thanksgiving holiday, when online retailers supposedly have a surge in purchases

While Black Friday is the official kickoff of the traditional retail season, the story goes, online retail really takes off the following Monday. Just one problem: It's not true, at least for many online retailers. Contrary to what the recent blitz of media coverage implies, Cyber Monday isn't nearly the biggest online shopping or spending day of the year.
– BusinessWeek, Nov. 29, 2005

white paper – UK: a government report of information or proposals on an issue (sometimes, similar non-governmental reports). Less extensive than a blue book

This white paper is designed to help identify the regulatory compliance issues that impact business continuity planning …
– Forbes, Jan. 27, 2007

blue book –
UK: a report bound in a blue cover and issued by Parliament or the Privy Council (obsolete?) U.S.: 1. a blank notebook with blue covers, for the answers to examination questions 2. a periodically issued price list (as of used cars) (also further US meanings)

UK: … the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs … refused to consider the request made by the Turkish Parliament last April to reconsider the "Blue Book", a 1916 parliamentary report … that documents the systematic, deliberate and politically motivated nature of the Armenian Genocide.
– PanARMENIAN.Net, Nov. 23, 2005

US: A 1946 essay examination on the bible, written on eight pages in a blue book while [Martin Luther] King was a student ,,,
– Florida Times-Union, FL - Jan 12, 2007

US: A Lido Beach man filed more than $420,000 in fraudulent Medicaid claims … officials began investigating … after receiving an anonymous tip that he drove the Hummer, which has a blue book value of about $28,000 …
– Newsday, Jan. 18, 2007

green card – US. but migrating to the British Isles: a permit allowing a foreigner to live and work permanently in the US
[The form (Form I-551) was adopted in 1977 and interestingly, it has never been colored green. Its predecessor was green, however.]

The US Green Card is a coveted identification card that allows immigrants to live and work in the United States and eventually apply for US citizenship.
– Reuters South Africa, Jan. 14, 2007

Skilled migrant workers will have to earn a minimum of about €55,000 per year to qualify for the Government's new green card system … The Government announced the introduction of legislation for a new green card system for skilled migrant workers last June.
– The Irish Times, Oct. 5, 2005

Question: is the Irish Times, cited above, a paper of Northern Ireland or of the Republic of Ireland?

a paper of Northern Ireland or of the Republic of Ireland?

Like all things Irish, it's complicated, but the paper is headquartered in Dublin, Eire.

quote:

starts our new theme: color words.

Blue language - swearing, etc.

white noise – 1. constant background noise; esp.ecially one that drowns out other sounds 2. meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter
[The technical sense is "noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities" -- and there is even a 'pink noise'. But the extended meanings are much more practical.]

She said she tried earplugs and machines that generate "white noise" to mask street sounds, all to no avail.
– Sun-Sentinel (FL), Jan. 28, 2007

Free from the white noise of websites, the endless pinging of the email inbox, we can devote the entirety of one instant to one topic …
– Montreal Gazette, Feb. 3, 2007

Speaking of colorful noises (or perhaps noisy colors), have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_noise
Despite the purple label, the article covers the full spectrum. A synesthesiast's delight.

Do "red light district" and "green belt," things that possess the actual color mentioned in the phrase, qualify in the same category as the others in these posts?

quote:

Originally posted by saranita:
Do "red light district" and "green belt," things that possess the actual color mentioned in the phrase, qualify in the same category as the others in these posts?

Sure, why not? If I'm lucky, you folks will give me enough of them to have a new theme ready.

I feel that "Color X is the new black!" is an odd twist of a phrase. Depending what you are talking about, black would be replaced by something more appropriate.