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Along Life’s Way
Color and Language
By Lois E. Wilson
Whether perceiving color by vision or emotion, it is a personal
experience. One who is color blind has a less than “normal” response to
it. Color has an effect on things in our lives of which most of us are
not aware.
Studies have been done to determine what colors are best for hospital
rooms to promote faster healing. There are studies to choose paint for
school classrooms—which colors are calming and which are activating.
The restaurant industry has experimented with lighting of facilities to
make food look more appetizing and to encourage patrons to stay and
order more food and drink. There are few areas in our everyday life
that have not been evaluated by some enterprise to get the optimum
results and revenue from color choices in packaging, products, and
display.
Color has invaded our vocabulary for centuries. “Sin” in the Bible is
referred to as being red, but some other uses of the word in the Bible
are positive. Today, red’s meanings are also negative and positive.
Getting “caught red-handed” is used for guilt. Being “red in the face”
can indicate anger or embarrassment. And not having “one red cent”
means you are poor. The phrase came from the color of copper pennies.
Being faced with too much “red tape” is a negative to most of us.
Some positive uses of “red” are laying out the “red carpet” for some
event. We look forward to “red letter days.” This term came from the
practice of printing in red the dates of holidays and special occasions
on calendars.
“Yellow” often refers to the negative—cowardliness and illness. “Green
around the gills” is a symptom of illness. A “greenhorn” is an
inexperienced person. Getting approval is “the green light.” Successful
gardeners have a “green thumb.”
Have you ever felt blue, talked a blue streak until someone is blue in
the face, or gone blue blazes? Do you have friends or hobbies you love
with a purple passion?
Colorful words have added much variety to our language. They make our
exchanges with each other more vibrant and interesting. What color
phrases do you use in your discourse? I just thought of one for
me—before this column becomes a “white elephant,” I guess it’s time for
it to “fade to black.”
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