A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

Note:
Neither expression is antonymous in meaning to the
phrase white box— used of computers without brand names (such
as Dell, HP, etc.) assembled by smaller manufacturers and often
packed in unlabeled white boxes: Computer professionals often
prefer white box computers constructed with higher quality
components.
black cap • black hat
black cap —
1
. a warbler: We followed a pleasant path
through trees and soon found ourselves listening to the sweet
bubbling song of a black cap. 2. (UK hist.) a cap put on by a
judge before sentencing a person to death: He acquitted two
men and then placed the black cap on his head and sentenced
the other two to death.
black hat—
1
. (coll.) the bad party in a situation (from the
color of hat traditionally worn by the bad character in Western
films): Past entertainment had a moral content — the white
hats won and the black hats lost. 2. (Austral. sl.) a new immi-
grant: I’d never let it be said that a black hat had cut me out.
black-collar workers • white-collar workers
black-collar workers —
1
. miners (especially coal miners) and
oil workers: He began performing in the smoky gin mills that
catered to black-collar workers who liked their booze and blues
straight. 2. (sl.) people engaged in media industries (artists,
graphic designers, video producers, etc.): Black-collar workers,
for those of you that aren’t cool enough to know, are the “cre-
ative types”; media, fashion, entertainment, etc.
white-collar workers —employees whose job is clerical, as
opposed to blue-collar workers engaged in manual work: Today
blue-collar workers can earn more than some of their white-
collar counterparts. Cf.: pink-collar workers — women who work
at traditional non-manual jobs (as secretaries, cashiers, etc.): The
book allows the voices of the pink-collar workers to demon-
strate the simultaneous burdens and pleasures of their work.