Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees.
It is also the color of most growing plants. Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh
and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished.
For example, a 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. About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was
a popular expression in the American west. Old-timers used it to describe a man who had
just arrived from one of the big cities back east. The greenhorn lacked the skills he would
need to live in the hard, rough country. Someone who has the ability to grow plants
well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds.
A person with a 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. The 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 is also the color used to describe the
powerful emotion, jealousy. The 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." It describes the unpleasant feeling a person
has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed
monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster
may affect your friend if you get a pay raise and she does not.
In most places in the world, a green light is a sign to move ahead. A green light
on a traffic signal means your car can continue on. In everyday speech, a green light means
approval to continue with a project.