black gold
1
4.6
- noun
- /blæk ɡoʊld/
:
oro negro
- The economy at home was more and more dependent on the black gold of oil.
- black gold produces
Alaska is where we were working, trying to find that that black gold.
- Alaska is where we were working, trying to find that that black gold.
Examples
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The economy at home was more and more dependent on the black gold of oil.
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Thanks to black gold, rapid affluence would be attained without resorting to forced savings, austerity programs, or escalating deficit spending that marked their counterparts in the Third World.
Academic text (1999) -
A hundred million dollars in black gold underneath that earth.
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However, the desire to curb the consumption of black gold has only increased...
Blog text (5) -
Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man who buys a family ranch and strikes black gold when he finds crude oil.
Blog text (25) -
Colonel Edwin Drake, a former Great Lakes sailor and railroad worker, became the manager who set off the rush for black gold.
Academic text (2009) -
Hence, Ghana has joined the bloc of oil-producing countries in the Gulf of Guinea since the discovery of 'black gold' on its shores in 2007.
Academic text (2018) -
Yet, these young ladies exemplify, in small measure, their region's relationship with the rough oil men: North Dakotans, landowners in particular, love the wealth and opportunity black gold brings, but are somewhat uncomfortable with the men delivering it.
Blog text (22) -
The plan we propose offers common ground for the president, Democrats, Republicans, and everyone else concerned about America's unquenchable thirst for the black gold that bubbles up from under some of the least stable and most politically and ideologically noxious places in the world.
Academic text (2009) -
Once news of black gold struck, the country's original oil region exploded with action.
Synonyms
2
5.6
A valuable liquid like oil or honey
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines literal constituents — 'black' (color) and 'gold' (valuable) — so the metaphorical idea of a 'valuable black commodity' is reasonably inferable from the parts. However, identifying the specific referent (petroleum/oil) requires cultural or world knowledge beyond the constituent meanings, so the mapping is not fully predictable. Cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. French 'or noir', Spanish 'oro negro') support partial transparency but not complete compositionality.
Etymology
Black gold comes from a simple image: dark black oil that brings wealth like gold. So today black gold means 'oil' that is very valuable.