Today, let’s learn some idioms and expressions related to 2 colors – black and white.
今日は、黒と白の２つの色の慣用句や表現について 学びましょう。
Black is called 黒（くろ） in Japanese.
黒（くろ）い originally comes from the i-adjective 暗（くら）い meaning dark, therefore the word often has a negative connotation.
腹黒（はらぐろ）い
腹（はら） means belly so 腹黒い literally means black belly.
It’s used to refer to someone who may look nice and innocent from outside but if you look inside her belly, it’s all dark and evil.
あの子は、とてもやさしそうに見えるけど、実は腹黒いから、気をつけて。
She looks all nice from outside but actually pretty evil so you should watch out!
黒幕（くろまく）
幕（まく） is drapes or curtains used in the theatre
黒幕 literally means black curtains used in Kabuki theatre. When the scene changes they put black curtains to hide the transition from the audience. From there, this expression is now used to refer to a mastermind who controls everything behind the scene.
警察は、山田社長を捕まえたけど、実は他に黒幕がいるはずだ。
President Yamada got arrested by the police, but I’m sure there is a real mastermind behind the scenes.
Also in the police terminology, the term 黒 means guilty as opposed to 白 which means innocent.
あの人は、てっきりクロだと思ってたけど、実はシロだった。
I assumed that he was guilty but I was wrong. He turned out to be innocent.
In the above example sentence, てっきり 思う is an expression used when you assume something without a basis.
ex) てっきり、今日は日曜日だと思っていた。
ブラック企業（きぎょう）
Literally, a black company
It’s a company that doesn’t abide by labor laws and takes advantage of its employees by forcing them to work long hours, do overtime, work on holidays, no benefits, etc.
The opposite of such companies is called ホワイト企業 – a white company
あの会社は、すごいブラックだから、やめた方がいいよ。
That company is famous for its very poor working conditions, so don’t apply.
Now let’s move on to white – 白.
This kanji 白 can be sometimes read しら too.
Like I said earlier, 白 can mean innocent.
ex) 私は、シロです。I’m innocent.
白々（しらじら）しい
It refers to a remark or an attitude that is not truthful or obviously fake. You would say 白々しい when a person is telling a lie which is so obvious that everybody knows it’s a lie.
ねえ、私の悪口いってたでしょ？
Did you talk trash about me, didn’t you?
ぜんぜん、いってないよ！僕は白だよ！
No way, I didn’t. I’m innocent!
うそつかないで、しらじらしい！
Don’t lie! It’s so obvious.
白（しら）を切る
to play innocent
いつまで白を切るつもり？口を割りなさい！
How long are you gonna play dumb? Come clean! Tell the truth.
白い目で見る
白い目 a cold look/scornful eyes
マスクをしないで 電車にのったら、みんなに 白い目でみられた。
When I got on a train without wearing a mask, people gave me a cold look.
白黒（しろくろ）つける
to make things clear
どっちが強いか、白黒つけよう。
Let’s see which one of us is stronger!
白黒つける時が来た。
It’s time to make things clear
白紙（はくし）にする
白紙 white/blank paper
白紙にする or 白紙にもどす means to call off something or start all over again.
この婚約を、白紙にもどしましょう。
Let’s call off this engagement.
コロナのせいで、旅行に行く予定が、白紙になった。
Due to Covid, my travel plans were canceled.
I hope you found these idioms interesting. Let me know if you want to know more idioms related to other colors.
If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to this website and also check out my podcast by clicking the banner on the right side of the page.