# Green around the gills.... is it possible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270 "2017-09-01T20:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/1 "2017-09-01T20:25:37Z")
Gills are full of blood. I would think it would take serious putrefaction to make them turn green… or is it even possible? ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/2 "2017-09-01T20:37:01Z")
Feeling sick is the point of the saying. Green is associated with nausea for some reason. And “gills” is essentially slang for the sides of the human head. We certainly have never managed to get a fish to tell us how they feel. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/3 "2017-09-01T20:38:38Z")
Of course the expression doesn’t refer to real gills, but to the fact that when you’re ill you get pale, and the sides of the neck and face may appear faintly greenish. I doubt it’s possible for vertebrate gills to look green. However, some worms have green blood and hence do have [green gills.](http://zoology2014rylee.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/1/6/26160481/447465006.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/4 "2017-09-01T21:36:10Z")
“Around the gills” doesn’t have to mean the gills themselves are green. Opaleyes are greenish, so they should qualify. So should the Creature From the Black Lagoon. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/5 "2017-09-02T00:05:18Z")
I am extremely pale to begin with, and look distinctly green when I am sick. I am not a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/6 "2017-09-02T04:24:14Z")
Huh? Why would anyone appear green (faintly or distinctly or otherwise) under any circumstances? Is it the copper-based hemoglobin? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/7 "2017-09-02T04:28:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Huh? Why would anyone appear green (faintly or distinctly or otherwise) under any circumstances? Is it the copper-based hemoglobin? Hemoglobin is iron-based, not copper-based. Veins [appear blue under the skin](https://www.thoughtco.com/why-do-veins-look-blue-608198) (although the blood in them is red). Since veins are closer to the skin than arteries, if your skin becomes pale it can take on a greenish cast due to the veins. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/green-around-the-gills-is-it-possible/795270/8 "2017-09-02T06:35:26Z")
From the Oxford English Dictionary: Gill, n. 1. Applied to various organs, etc. resembling the gills of a fish.   2.a The wattles or dewlap of a fowl. 2. Attributed to persons:   3.a with jocular allusion to the capture or holding of a fish by the gills.   3.b with allusion to sense 2 a: The flesh under the jaws and ears; esp. in phrases to be rosy about the gills, to look in good health; to be white, blue, yellow about the gills, to look dejected or in ill health; to turn red in the gills, to show signs of anger or indignation.