Once in a Blue Moon

Have you ever heard Elvis Presley’s version of the song Blue Moon? It’s a classic. But do you know what a blue moon is? A blue moon is when there are two full moons in one month, a very rare event. The last blue moon took place on December 31st, 2009, and the next one will happen at the end of this month, March 30th. But the next one won't take place until August, 2012. That’s why if something doesn’t happen very often, we say that it happens once in a blue moon. Likewise , if something comes out of the blue, it means that it happens when you least expect it.

On the other hand, if you go into the wild blue yonder, you are exploring unknown territory. But if you find yourself between the devil and the deep blue sea, you’re in a situation where you have to choose between two undesirable options.

Blue can also be used to describe two extremes of people: blue blood, a person of noble birth, and blue-collar worker, a person whose job involves manual labor. And finally, someone, who is true-blue, is someone who is totally loyal . As you can see, blue has many connotations.

For example, if you fall or get hit and receive lots of bruises as a result, we say that you’re black and blue. Blue is a color associated with depression. So you may feel blue on the first day of the workweek, otherwise known as Blue Monday. If you want to complain that your life is in a shambles[1], for example, you’ve been fired from your job, your lover has abandoned you and you have lost your house in a fire, you can sing the blues (hence the music genre)!

But people don’t only sing the blues, they speak it too! A person, who talks a blue streak, speaks a lot and quickly. As often is the case, this very same person talks until he is blue in the face, which means he repeats himself over and over again until someon might pay any attention to him.

[1] hecho un desastre