Green: More Than Just a Color

green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished.

greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation.  In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed.  A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today - a person who is new in a job.

green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.

green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops.  The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.

green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space.  It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play "Othello."

green light means approval to continue with a project. We want you to know we have a green light to continue this series next week.