This striking picture is called Green Thumb. It combines photos of a tree and a face. Picture credit: Grunter, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Most languages have colourful expressions, and many of them are much the same: we’re green with envy, while Italians talk of verde dall’invidia; if we want to be clear we put things down in black and white (mettere nero su bianco) and the shady part of town, a luci rosse, is the red-light district.

Some phrases, however, are subtly different. English gardeners traditionally have green fingers, for example, while Italians have the green thumb, il pollice verde.

But while we’re in the red when we’re broke and owe money, they’re in the green, al verde. Picture: Deseronto Archives, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons. Black’s fine, but don’t go into the red!

Why are Italians “al verde” when they’re broke?

But green? Where does that come from? We’re grateful to the online language school LearnAmo for an explanation: “Generally, green is the colour which represents hope, a good omen, but this expression related to the colour green is not optimistic at all! … It seems that the meaning of this expression comes from an old tradition: to paint the bottom of candles green.” So when you can see the green, the candles are just about spent. (You can read more colourful language at the LearnAmo website, by clicking here.)

And you can make your friends green with envy by booking a Watermill creative course for this year. You can read all about our creative holidays – painting, knitting and Italian language – in nero su bianco (and in colour) by clicking here.

Capturing Tuscany’s many shades of green

And if you like green no better painting tutor than Paul Talbot-Greaves to capture the glorious Tuscan countryside surrounding the Watermill, he’s made numerous painting of the infinite shades of ‘God’s favourite colour.’ Here’s a montage of some of them:

A few spaces available in June 2026

Due to a few cancellations because of illness, we suddenly have some spaces available on Paul’s painting course, in watercolours and acrylics, from Saturday 6 June to Saturday 13 June 2026. Please click here for more details. And for all our creative courses, please click here.