(American) Idioms in BLUE

1.  once in a blue moon:  seldom, not very often

• Once in a blue moon, I drive up Highway 1 until Carmel and take photographs along the way. 

*When there are two full moons in one month, the second full moon is referred to as a blue moon, which occurs only twice a year. 

2. to have the blues, feeling blue: to feel sad, lonely, lovesick, depressed

•  Everyday, everyday I have the blues / Ooh everyday, everyday I have the blues / When you see me worryin' baby, yeah it's you I hate to lose / Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care / Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care / Well worries and trouble darling, babe you know I've had my share  ~B.B.King (Click here for song)

3.  black and blue: bruised

• The poor guy's knees were black and blue after his first day of snowboarding.

4.  blue blood: of royal ancestry

• Once the Brahn family arrived to the United States, they thought changing their surname to vonWaldenburg would make them appear as blue bloods rather than simple immigrants. 

5.  blue-collar: worker who performs manual labor, normally receives hourly pay

• Flint, Michigan is famous for its blue-collar working class that was once employed by General Motors.

6.  out of the blue: unexpectedly, suddenly, (also, out of nowhere)

• Out of the blue, it started pouring rain while we were driving to the beach.

7.  blue in the face: out of breath, lack of oxygen

• You can keep talking until you are blue in the face, but I will never buy a solar powered flashlight. 

8.  out of the blue and into the black: from bad to worse

• My my, hey hey / Rock and roll is here to stay / It's better to burn out / Than to fade away / My my, hey hey. / Out of the blue and into the black / They give you this, but you pay for that / And once you're gone, you can never come back / When you're out of the blue and into the black. / The king is gone but he's not forgotten... ~Neil Young (Click here for song)