# groene en gele



## mia0815

Een week later nodigde ze al haar vriendinne uit.
Gezllig op theevisite. Ze praatten honderduit.
Ze hielden kleine en grote praatjes,
groene en gele, en praatjes tegen de vaak.

from _Mevrouw Justien, een verhhaal over troost _by Isabelle Desegher

When you talk 'groene en gele' (green and yellow), what does it really mean?

Please help. Thank you.


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## eno2

Ik vermoed een "literair" grapje om de opsomming wat op te vrolijken (en te verlengen).


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## Teachinglang

eno2 said:


> Ik vermoed een "literair" grapje om de opsomming wat op te vrolijken (en te verlengen).



Agreed  To the best of my knowledge, 'groene en gele praatjes' does not mean much.

There is such a thing as 'zich groen en geel ergeren' (to be very annoyed by something), but I don't think that expression has anything to do with this sentence.


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## eno2

I didn't detect that one. This could have subconscious repercussions....in readers that didn't detect it...


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## mia0815

Moderator Note:  Two identical threads have been merged.  Please do not post your questions more than once.


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## jedna

Far-fetched perhaps, but green is a secundary colour (a minor colour) and yellow is a primary colour (a major colour).
So it might be a 'colouring in' (for creativity's/imagination's sake) of the preceding line 'kleine en grote praatjes' (minor and major talks).
I'll trade it in for some better explanation...


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## jedna

The colours green and yellow, do they appear nowhere else in the story?


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## mia0815

No, not at all. The author is from Belgium, but the book is in Dutch. I wondered if it's something about Belgian Dutch.


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## jedna

I don't think so. Otherwise the Belgian-Dutch members already would have helped you out. But I will see if I can find some explanation.


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## mia0815

Thank you. I also wondered if it's something literary that the author created. It's just that I'd like to know what it might mean.


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## jedna

Maybe the solution is on its way...
I found the mail address of the author and mailed her your question. Let's hope she'll mail back, so that the enigma will be solved!
Have a nice weekend, 
Jedna


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## mia0815

Thanks a lot, Jedna! Have a good weekend too!


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## bibibiben

Both green and yellow can be associated with envy. It could be that the writer meant to say something like 'envious gossip' in a colorful way.


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