grünes Licht geben
to give the green light; to give the go-ahead
Origin
The image comes from traffic and railway signalling, where green means 'go'. As an idiom for permission it is a loan translation from English ('to give the green light') and became common in the 20th century.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Separable prefix 'an-' (ankommen, to arrive)Trennbares Präfix 'an-' (ankommen)
- Separable prefix 'aus-' (ausgehen, to go out)Trennbares Präfix 'aus-' (ausgehen)
- Predicate adjective after 'bleiben' (to stay)Prädikatives Adjektiv nach 'bleiben'
- Conjunction 'denn' (because/for, reason)Konjunktion 'denn' (Grund)
- Verbs with dative and accusative (geben, schenken …)Verben mit Dativ und Akkusativ (geben, schenken …)
- Polite subjunctive II: 'würde' + infinitive (would)Konjunktiv II höflich: 'würde' + Infinitiv
Examples
Der hat grünes für das neue .
The boss has finally given the green light for the new project.