Black-and-white means in shades of grey only, with no colour at all. An old photograph, a film from before the 1960s.
Photography and film keep the literal sense alive — a black-and-white portrait, a black-and-white television set. The figurative sense does more work: seeing an issue in black-and-white terms means seeing only right and wrong with nothing between them, and it is nearly always a criticism. The counterweight phrase is a grey area. There is also in black and white, meaning written down and therefore beyond argument.
1adjectiveblack-and-whiteIn shades of grey, without colour.
“She showed me a black-and-white photograph of her mother.”
2adjectivetreatingTreating a question as having only two clear sides.
“He has a very black-and-white view of politics.”
black and white The police car sense reflects a traditional livery for such cars.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 36 of A Man Called Ove.
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