Paint a black picture
Posted by RRC on February 21, 2008 at 17:05:
In Reply to: Paint a black picture posted by Mel on February 21, 2008 at 12:24:
: Is there such a phrase as "To paint a black picture" (of a situation), or something to do with darkening a painting that might mean making things worse?
"To paint a black picture" is to describe something negatively. In "Oliver Twist", Charles Dickens paints a black picture of life in the workhouse. "The sky is falling," shouted Chicken Little, painting a black picture for the future of the world.