Colour words and their uses

At the last conference you were informed about the basic colour theory, the colour wheel, seven colours of the rainbow, and the use of the word ‘yellow’.

The subject of this research is the peculiarities of linguistic representation of colour in English language.

The main goal of the research is to find out the main characteristics of concept function, representing the blue colour in English language.

Colour is an important part of the visual arts, fashion, interior design and many other fields and disciplines.

Abstract: Popular usage of colour words as parts of

speech obey certain rules according to whether they are

population dependent and whether use demands a degree

of colour vision. The word green refers to that colour

most of us see, recognize and categorize as being of the

colour called green. But, colours and colour words are

to do with emotion as well as perception. What can we

learn from the greatest writers, artist s and musical com-

posers; how do they, for example, regard green? From

them we learn that we perceive colours with our ears as

well as our eyes and, in an emotional sense, a colour

word means or is associated with just what the writer

intends.

V

C

2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 111–113,

2015; Published Online 5 March 2014 in Wiley Online Library

(wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/col.21874

Key words: colour words; colour meaning; colour associ-

ation; colour emotion

Colour words are used in a number of interesting ways.

For example, there are rules as to their everyday use as

parts of speech.

1

Colour words as adjectives bring lan-

guage to life. We can apply a colour word to make a bald

statement more visually meaningful when we say “Karin

has a red house.” Adding a modifier, for example “dark,”

we can impart a more definite impression of the dwelling.

As long as we have normal colour vision we can more or

less agree to the meaning of the statement. Apart from

this dependence on colour vision adjectival use is not

population dependent, and few problems arise when we

use basic colour words, such as red, as adjectives.

Different rules occur when colour words are used as

nouns. Modifiers can still be used, for example the Oxford

Blues was used to distinguish the Earl of Oxford’s troops

from those of a regiment of his Dutch allies who also wore

blue uniforms. This seventeenth century interpretation of

the term has now given way in the UK to make the distinc-

tion from the paler Cambridge Blues, colours used by the

two universities. Colour nouns are commonly used today as

nicknames for football teams. To a Londoner “the Blues”

will refer to Chelsea, in Glasgow it will be Rangers. Modi-

fiers are occasionally used, as in the “Sky Blues” which

refers to Coventry City. Hence, colour word use as a noun

is population dependent. Also, normal colour vision is not

demanded; if you support Chelsea your team will always be

“the Blues” even if you have no vision at all.

Colour words as verbs do not usually take modifiers,

no colour vision is demanded, but use is again population

dependent. So, “to black” or “to blacken,” depending on

the job in hand, refers to tarring the sides of sailing ships,

to cleaning boots, to making charcoal, to ostracize or to

blackmail. Colour words are rarely used as adverbs. An

example is “in spring the grass grew greenly”; perhaps

best left to the poet. Lastly, a colour word may be used

as an interjection replacing bad language. For example,

“By all that’s blue!”

In common language, the fact that there are very few

unambiguous colour names leads to many definitions

being used for the same colour. For example, there are

many uses of the term blackjack. These include illegal

whisky, strong coffee, the mustard beetle, false lead ore a

pirate flag, rock salmon, the ace of spades, as well as a

proper noun being a nickname for two USA generals.

Sometimes we hear that a colour word means some-

thing other than the colour itself, but is this credible? For

example, what does the word red signify? Red is any of

the wide range of colours that those blessed wit

Popular usage of colour words as parts of speech obey certain rules according to whether they are population dependent and whether use demands a degree of colour vision. Colours and colour words are to do with emotion as well as perception. What can we learn from the greatest writers, artists and musical composers; how do they, for example, regard green or blue? From them we learn that we perceive colours with our ears as well as our eyes and, in an emotional sense, a colour word means or is associated with just what the writer intends. Colour words are used in a number of interesting ways. For example, there are rules as to their everyday use as parts of speech. Colour words as adjectives bring language to life. We can apply a colour word to make a bald statement more visually meaningful when we say “Karin has a red house.” Adding a modifier, for example “dark,”we can impart a more definite impression of the dwelling. As long as we have normal colour vision we can more or less agree to the meaning of the statement. Apart from this dependence on colour vision adjectival use is not population dependent, and few problems arise when we use basic colour words, such as red, as adjectives. Different rules occur when colour words are used as nouns. Modifiers can still be used, for example the Oxford Blues was used to distinguish the Earl of Oxford’s troops from those of a regiment of his Dutch allies who also wore blue uniforms. This seventeenth century interpretation of the term has now given way in the UK to make the distinction from the paler Cambridge Blues, colours used by the two universities. Colour nouns are commonly used today as nicknames for football teams. To a Londoner “the Blues” will refer to Chelsea, in Glasgow it will be Rangers. Modifiers are occasionally used, as in the “Sky Blues” which refers to Coventry City. Hence, colour word use as a noun is population dependent. Also, normal colour vision is not demanded; if you support Chelsea your team will always be “the Blues” even if you have no vision at all. Colour words as verbs do not usually take modifiers, no colour vision is demanded, but use is again population dependent. So, “to black” or “to blacken,” depending on the job in hand, refers to tarring the sides of sailing ships, to cleaning boots, to making charcoal, to ostracize or to blackmail. Colour words are rarely used as adverbs. An example is “in spring the grass grew greenly”; perhaps best left to the poet. Lastly, a colour word may be used as an interjection replacing bad language. For example, “By all that’s blue!” In common language, the fact that there are very few unambiguous colour names leads to many definitions being used for the same colour. For example, there are many uses of the term blackjack. These include illegal whisky, strong coffee, the mustard beetle, false lead or a pirate flag, rock salmon, the ace of spades, as well as a proper noun being a nickname for two USA generals. Sometimes we hear that a colour word means something other than the colour itself, but is this credible?

Do you think you know what the word blue means? While in English it’s a broad word used to describe everything from shimmering waters to depressed feelings, the original word for blue didn’t mean the color blue at all. To learn the origins of the word, word experts looked back through the millennia to the language of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, an ancient culture rooted in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. These people used the word bhle- to describe something that was light-colored. Some scholars suspect bhle- may have even meant “yellow.” As people and their languages became more diverse, so did the words based on bhle-. Here’s a short list of the terms spawned by that simple four-letter word: belyi – Russian for white blawr – Welsh for gray blanc – French for white or blank blavo – Old Spanish for yellowish-gray flavus – Latin for yellow phalos – Greek for white. For modern English speakers, the word blue came from the Old English bleu, which was borrowed from Old French, the language spoken by the people of northern France during the Dark Ages. An interesting fact about the color blue is that many languages don’t use separate words for blue and green. Koreans, for instance, use the word pureu-da to describe both colors. Likewise the Thai word khiaw usually means green but can represent blue when describing the sky or the ocean. 
Blue is the overwhelming “favourite color.” Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed. Blue is the least “gender specific” colour, having equal appeal to both men and women. The colour of ocean and sky, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. As the collective colour of the spirit, it invokes rest and can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming. However, not all blues are serene and sedate. Electric or brilliant blues become dynamic and dramatic – an engaging colour that expresses exhilaration. Some shades or the overuse of blue may come across as cold or uncaring. Indigo, a deeper blue, symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery, and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings.

Blue is the colour of the clear sky and the deep sea.  It is located between violet and green on the optical spectrum.

Surveys in the USA and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and sometimes with sadness. In U.S. and European public opinion polls it is overwhelmingly the most popular colour, chosen by almost half of both men and women as their favourite colour.

Let’s analyse some word combnations and idioms containing the word ‘blue’,

True Blue:

True blue, meaning faithful and steadfast, comes from the color of a fabric manufactured in Coventry, England during the Middle Ages. The cloth had a reputation for having a durable blue dye which resisted fading.

Blue Blood:

Blue bloods, the aristocrats, came into English from Spanish. The Spanish nobles of the Kingdom of Castile were stereotyped as having fair skin which revealed the blue veins underneath. The neighboring Moors (who were Muslim) supposedly had darker skins and thus their veins were not visible.

Blue Collar:

The term “blue collar” in reference to trades jobs was in 1924 in a newspaper in Alden Iowa. During the 1950s, blue collar came to refer to the millions of factory and trade workers. The term comes from their blue work shirts, as compared with the white shirts, ties, and jackets of management (the blue bloods).

Blue collar has come to have socioeconomic class meanings that extend outside of the workplace. Thus, we have blue collar bars, blue collar neighborhoods, blue collar food and drink, blue collar recreation, and so on.

As a corollary to blue collar, the concept of pink collar came to be used in reference to the millions of women in secretarial jobs.  

The Blues:

The idea of blue being associated with depression and melancholy seems to emerge in eighteenth-century London. In 1798 George Coman’s one-act farce Blue Devils used “blue devils” meaning melancholy and sadness. Then later, in the U.S., African American musicians developed a style of music known as the Blues which tells tales of misery and hard luck. In 1912, Hart Wand’s “Dallas Blues” was the first copyrighted blues composition. In his lyrics he uses the term blues to describe depression.

Blue Ribbon:

Blue ribbon originally referred to the ribbon worn below the left knee of a fourteenth-century British knight who had been admitted into the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

The Most Noble Order of the Garter was founded in 1348. Membership is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than 24 members known as Companions.

The color ‘blue’ is symbolic of many things, yet the most curious may be matters of obscenity and puritanical decree. The Word Detective notes the phrase “blue laws” dates back to 1781 when the Reverend Samuel Peters published his history of Connecticut. He painted the strict laws of the puritan colonists as “blue laws”, meaning “bloody laws” or laws that were enforced by brutality. “Blue laws” became shorthand for any strict, old-fashioned laws, such as laws forbidding liquor sales on Sundays.

Blue chip 

means stock shares of a large company that has a high value. 

E. g,  The blue chips took another nose dive in today’s trading.

to appear/happen out of the blue

1) to arrive unexpectedly, usually after a long absence

2) to happen very suddenly and unexpectedly

EXAMPLE:

1. “My brother suddenly appeared out of the blue yesterday. We hadn’t seen him for years.”  “I was driving home when out of the blue a deer jumped out in front of my car. I braked just in time to avoid it. We were both very lucky not to be hurt.”

to blue pencil something

MEANING: to censor something.

EXAMPLE:

”Reports on the mistreatment of the political prisoners were blue pencilled by the authorities”

a blue-eyed boy

MEANING: critical description of a boy/young man who has been singled out for special favours by someone in authority.

EXAMPLE:

”John is a real blue-eyed boy. The team manager always gives him special treatment. It isn’t fair to the rest of us.”

a bolt from the blue

MEANING: some unexpected bad news.

EXAMPLE:

“It came like a bolt from the blue that they are getting divorced.”

to look / feel blue

MEANING: – to look / feel depressed or discontented.

EXAMPLE:

“Things are looking blue for Tom these days. His wife has left him.”

blue in the face

MEANING: to make a huge but vain effort to win a person’s agreement.

EXAMPLE:

“I told him he was making a mistake until I was blue in the face but he wouldn’t listen.”

once in a blue moon

MEANING: to occur extremely rarely or only once in a life-time.

EXAMPLE:

”My brother only rings home once in a blue moon. I wish he would ring our parents more often”

men/boys in blue

MEANING: the police because of the colour of their uniforms.

EXAMPLE:

“Let’s get out of here! The boys in blue are coming.”

blue and white

n. a police car; the police. (Patterned on black and white 

and used in cities where the police cars are painted blue andwhite.) 

A blue andwhite suddenly appeared, and I knew we were finished.

blue around the gills  and green around the gills

1. mod. ill; nauseated. How about a little air? I feel a little green around the

 gills.

2. mod. alcohol intoxicated. Marty – now thoroughly green around the gills—slid neatly under the table, and everyone pretended not to notice.

blue blood

 1. Fig. the blood [heredity] of a noble family; aristocratic ancestry. The earl refuses to allow anyone who is not of blue blood to marry his son.Although Mary's family is poor, she has blue blood in her veins.

2. Fig. a person of aristocratic or wealthy ancestry. Because his great-grandparents made millions, he is regarded as one of the city's bluebloods.

blue devils

 1. n. melancholia; depression. Hank is down with the blue devils again.

2. n. the delirium tremens. The shakes, or the blue devils, are a sure sign of a serious drinking problem.

3. n. capsules of Amytal, a barbiturate. How much for a little box of blue devils?

blue in the face

Exhausted from anger, strain, or other great effort. For example, You can argue until you're blue in the face, but I refuse to go. Thisexpression alludes to the bluish skin color resulting from lack of oxygen, which presumably might result from talking until one was breathless.

(until you are) blue in the face

for a long time The attorneys can talk until they're blue in the face, but I don't think they'll convince the jury that this guy is innocent. You canargue yourself blue in the face but it isn't going to change my opinion.

Blue - Sayings and Metaphors

Feeling blue - feeling miserable

Blue eyed boy (or girl) - someone who can do no wrong (i.e. they look like an angel)

Blue sky thinking - open-minded thinking

Once in a blue moon - something which happens very rarely

He is between the devil and the deep blue sea - he has two unpleasant alternatives

POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF BLUE Blue represented the Union (North) during the American Civil War. The color blue represents the U.S. Democratic Party and beginning with the 2000 presidential election, states that favored the Democratic candidates began being referred to as “blue states,” while those that favored the Republican candidates were referred to as “red states.” In the U.S. Congress, the Blue Dog coalition is a caucus of conservative Democrats.
 

QUOTES ABOUT BLUE “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” — Vincent Van Gogh “Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight.” — John Ruskin “Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones…it will always stay blue; whereas yellow is blackened in its shades, and fades away when lightened; red when darkened becomes brown, and diluted with white is no longer red, but another color – pink.”  — Raoul Dufy “I have broken the blue boundary of color limits, come out into the white; beside me comrade-pilots swim in this infinity.” — Kasimir Malevich “If you see a tree as blue, then make it blue.”– Paul Gauguin

SONGS WITH BLUE IN THE TITLE Blue by Joni Mitchell Blue by LeAnn Rimes Blonde Over Blue by Billy Joel Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley Blue Eyes by Elton John Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain by Willie Nelson Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins, covered by Elvis Presley Blue Sunday by The Doors Devil With A Blue Dress On / Good Golly, Miss Molly by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels Don’t It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue by Crystal Gayle My Baby Blue by John Hiatt Blue Jean by David Bowie Blue Jay Way by The Beatles BLUE IN THE GARDEN