be (not) as black as (someone/something) is painte

be (not) as black as (someone/something) is painted

To be as bad or unpleasant as someone or something is rumored to be. This phrase is often used in the negative to convey the opposite. That class is as black as it is painted—I've never had so much homework in my life! Mr. Stewart may yell a lot, but he's not as black as he is painted—he's actually helped me carry my groceries many times.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Vladislav	vlah-dee-SLAHF (Russian)	Russian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Medieval Slavic
Qasim	KAH:-sim (Arabic)	Arabic, Urdu
Karsten	KAHR-sten (Low German)	Low German, Danish, Norwegian
Artemiy	-	Russian
Brigita	-	Slovene, Croatian, Latvian
Terentius	-	Ancient Roman