White is a universal color. It is also the most popular. It symbolizes perfection, faith, cleanliness, softness, and, most importantly, purity. In other words, it symbolizes many good aspects of life.  It is no surprise therefore that most of the phrases involving the word “white”, as we will see now,  convey good aspects.

If we possess some property that is expensive to maintain, we call it a White Elephant. It is so for the obvious reasons. White elephants are imaginary entities. But if it exists it won’t be an easy or inexpensive task to maintain its body in a presentable condition. Thus a huge bungalow or a luxury car can be said to be white elephants. A middle-class person marrying a glamorous film star may also have a similar experience.

White Money refers to the money earned through legal means and on which due taxes have been paid. This is in contrast to “black money” earned through corruption and embezzlement.  In many business deals, the monetary transactions are carried out on a “partly white and partly black” basis. White payments are through cheques and bank drafts. The black payments are through hard cash.

England and some commonwealth countries issue the so-called “White Papers” from time to time.  Such documents describe the policy of the governments on specific issues. The white papers can also be detailed authoritative reports on important topics. White Lies, on the other hand, are unimportant and harmless lies uttered by people for tactful purposes or with a desire not to hurt someone. They can also be described as “courtesy lies”

A White Knight is a friendly investor who buys a corporation with the support of the board of directors during a takeover bid or when the company is facing bankruptcy. Metaphorically, a white knight can be a person or a thing that helps someone in a difficult situation.

People who work in offices are said to be belonging to the  “white collar” category.  Their working world consists of a table, a chair, and a computer. Mostly, they use their brains in their day-to-day work. This is in contrast to people who work in workshops and outdoors wherein hard labor is also called into action. On the other hand, White Tie refers to a very strict dress code to be adhered to during certain official formal dinners. The code specifies a hand-tied white bow tie, a white evening shirt, a low-cut white waistcoat, a black unbuttoned evening tailcoat, and so on.

A Whitelist, literally an allowlist, is a list of entities that are recognized, accepted, or privileged. Whitelists can help spa filters determine if an email address is safe to be delivered. Whitelists can also protect data and hardware from malware downloads. Whitelists can limit the applications that can be installed on a device. We can say that a whitelist is an exact opposite of a blacklist.

A White Hope is a person expected to bring success to a team or an organization. This expression dates back to the early twentieth century when Jack Johnson was the world heavyweight boxing champion. He was an African-American and looked invincible. Any potential challenger belonging to the white race was thought to be a Great White Hope.

A White Flag is a plain white flag or a piece of cloth that signifies surrender, truce, or a ceasefire.  In warfare, if the enemy troops wave a white flag during battle, the opposing side is not allowed to attack them. The rules concerning the use of white flags are spelled out in the Hague Convention of 1899.

The terms White Ship and White Admiral have nothing to do with one another or with the Navy. The White Ship refers to a vessel carrying many nobles including the heir to the British Throne. On the 25th of November 1120, the ship sank in the English Channel. All but one of the estimated 300 people on board perished. White Admirals are butterflies found widespread in Southern England and scattered over the rest of Europe. Adult White Admirals have dark-colored wings with white bands.

Tailpiece: The White House is not just an ordinary house with white exteriors. It is the official residence of the President of the United States of America. Arguably, it is the most powerful building on the surface of the earth.