in black and white
15
3.5
- idiom
:
por escrito
- That was the key, I had it all the time, right in front of me in black and white.
- in black and white terms
I remember writing the book and being like, if I put it in black and white and they read it, This is this is a it's a heartbreaking thought.
- I remember writing the book and being like, if I put it in black and white and they read it, This is this is a it's a heartbreaking thought.
Examples
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It is all there in black and white.
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It's all here in black and white, hard evidence from the Office of Budget Responsibility.
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What matters is what is in black and white.
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It's all down in black and white in the company books.
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It's in black and white.
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lt says it clearly in black and white.
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Maybe by writing it here in black and white, I'll hold myself accountable.
Blog text (32) -
And everything's in black and white.
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Grozier felt that once the claims were spelled out clearly in black and white, people would quickly realize how ridiculous they were.
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It's all here in black and white, hard evidence from the Office of Budget Responsibility.
Synonyms
155
1.6
Clearly stated or decided and not vague
142
4.8
Clear and detailed so there is no confusion
27
4.2
Easy to see and understand
1
3.7
Easy to understand without extra details
Clearly and exactly said or written, for example on a form
Said or written clearly, often in an official way
Antonyms
How Clear
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents literally describe colours, so a learner who knows the words might interpret a surface meaning of something being black and white in colour. The idiomatic meaning 'clearly or explicitly stated in writing' depends on the conventional association of black text on white paper and requires cultural/pragmatic knowledge beyond simple compositional semantics, although similar expressions exist in other languages. Therefore the phrase is partially transparent but not fully predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The phrase in black and white comes from the simple image of words written in black ink on white paper, where the words are fixed and easy to read. That's why it now means something is clearly written or 'in writing'.