blacker than he is – to exaggerate, to portray someone in a bad light, worse than he really is; black
ingratitude
–
the
state
of
being
ungrateful;
a
black
mark
the fact of people noticing and remembering something that someone has done wrong or failed to
do, a black sheep ‒ the bad one, the one who does bad things.
3. The negative characteristics of the qualities of nature, human senses: as black as ink ‒
joyless, black as thunder ‒ full of rage or hostility, likened to the black clouds that accompany
thunderstorms.
4. Dishonesty or even criminality: give a black eye ‒ cause a loss of respect for a person or
organization, black money ‒ dirty money, illegal profit [14].
The word blue was widely used in phraseological units and word combinations in different
meanings. Therefore, this colour is a symbol of heaven and eternity in many cultures.
As stated in the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Kazakh language”, blue has different
meanings and one of them is an endless sky [15, 407].
In the understanding of Kazakhs, the blue sky meant the divine principle. The word “heaven”
denoting “көк” (kók) is the homonym of the word blue. In accordance with the cult of heaven, its
colour is blue also deified as “Тәңірлік (Táńirlik) – Tengriism”: төбесі көкке жету (tóbesi kókke
jetý) ‒ to reach to heaven, көк тәңірге табынған (kók táńіrge tabynǵan), көк бөрінің ұрпағы (kók
bórіnіń urpaǵy) ‒ those who worship heavenly Tengri, become heavenly generation, көктен түсті
(kókten tústi) ‒ out of the blue, көкте тұрған жұлдыз (kókte túrǵan juldyz) ‒ a pie in the sky
(something that you hope will happen but is very unlikely to happen).
At the same time, the meaning of the word blue can have negative connotation. For example,
көк келсін! (kók kelsin!), көк ала келгір (kók ala kelgіr), көк сойғыр (kók soqqyr) (curse) ‒ let the
heavens punish you!, көк ми (kók mı) ‒ a silly man, көк есек (kók esek) ‒ stubborn, easily
controlled people.
In the English language the blue color is associated both with the positive and negative as
well.
Вестник КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова ISSN 1608-2206 Серия филологическая, № 4, 2019
146
According to the legends, devils, witches, ghosts often appeared in a blue robe. There was a
sign that meeting a woman in a blue apron was a harbinger of misfortune. It was forbidden to paint
houses and windows in blue. Moreover, it was not allowed to put an object of the blue color on the
marital bed: it meant that the spouses would not have children. This worldview is reflected in the
following idioms: blue Monday ‒ the worst day of the year; blue stocking is a symbol of
impersonality, a lack of femininity, charm inherent in a real woman; feel blue ‒ feel sad, down; till
you are blue in the face ‒ until you are tired or sick; the sky is not blue ‒ something is wrong, there
is a problem; between the devil and the deep blue sea ‒ in a difficult position, no place to go.
There are also phraseological units with positive meanings: the idiom “blue blood”
characterizes aristocratic origin of a person. Blue-eyed boy/girl – someone particularly favoured by
an authority. There is an idiom “something borrowed and something blue”, which means two of the
things required for a happy wedding and a successful marriage [14]. The rhyme dates back to the
Victorian era and came out of the English country Lancashire. At that time, the “something blue”
was usually a garter, and the blue and old items protected the bride against the Evil Eye, a curse
passed through a malicious glare that could make the bride infertile. “Something borrowed” was
preferably the undergarment of a woman who already had children. The legend says that wearing
this would confuse the Evil Eye into thinking the bride was already fertile, and the curse would be
thwarted [16]. “True blue” means loyal, faithful, also people who works at a trade are called blue-
collar workers. The blue sky has the definition of the great opportunity, an easy life [14].
The brown colour symbolizes on the one hand silence, warmth, and safety, on the other hand
it depicts something that is cold, to show indifference in the Kazakh. For instance, қоңыр күз
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