sich grün und blau ärgern
to be hopping mad; to be utterly furious
Origin
The phrase transfers the colours of bruises ('beaten black and blue') to annoyance: one is so furious it is as if one had come away covered in bruises. Such intensifying colour pairs are common in colloquial German (cf. 'to beat someone black and blue').
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Definite article 'die' (the, feminine, nominative)Bestimmter Artikel 'die' (feminin, Nominativ)
- Possessive article 'ihr' (her)Possessivartikel 'ihr' (her)
- Plural with -er (das Kind → die Kinder)Plural mit -er
- Comparison of equality with 'so … wie' (as … as)Vergleich mit so … wie
- Possessive article 'sein' (his/its)Possessivartikel 'sein' (his/its)
- Possessive article 'unser' (our)Possessivartikel 'unser' (our)
Examples
Über den verpassten habe ich mich und geärgert.
I was hopping mad about missing the train.