I see that Red and Green also have colloquial usage sections. Perhaps that's why someone undid my move. I'd rather see all the usage togther in one article; or, better links so someone could read each color-usage article. I'd hate to think I'm missing lavender or brown (gay and nazi?) connotations. Our language is so colorful, it deserves better than a piecemeal treatment. Ed Poor |
Because of the tail of an absorption at around 750 nm absorbs the red. The absorption is an overtone of the O-H stretching vibration.
Interestingly, heavy water (D2O) is colourless, because the absorption band is at a longer wavelength (~950 nm). -- DrBob
Is it possible that this is connected to the origin of the term "blue laws"? I read something on encyclopedia.com about "blue paper they were written on," but that assertion seems asinine at best. A linguistic connection to German immegrants just feels more probable.--BlackGriffen
What are "blue laws"? Maybe they should be mentioned on the main article as well. --AxelBoldt
http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/bluelaws.htm
Food for thought, --Alan D
Another example of that would be blue blood. I have to wonder about the etymology of the phrases, though.--BlackGriffen
There are only "blaue Briefe" (blue letters) in German. Those are unpleasant letters parents get from school. --Vulture
In German, "blue" means "drunk".
"blau" is drunk, not "blue"
-- Somebody earlier removed this from page (why?) -- the following may make more sense in response to this. --
A "Blue movie" is a slang term for a pornographic? film. The term derives from the poor colour balancing (due to cheap production techniques) used in films during the 1970s, resulting in a bluish tone to the skin of the performers.
I think this term goes back at least to the 1920's! OED?
Quoted directly from the OED blue adj:
From www.britannica.com blue law:
Now, considering that english is a Germanic language, and that the number of German immegrants was second only to the number of Irish, don't you find it more probable that the use came from the German term for drunk? There is, after all, a more than casual link between drunkenness and obscenity.--BlackGriffen
Put the usage section on another page. How about here. Each color can have its own subpage of [Color Talk]?. I bet you're green? with envy that you didn't think of this first. I hope it doesn't make you see red though.
I'd rather see all the usage togther in one article; or, better links so someone could read each color-usage article. I'd hate to think I'm missing lavender or brown (gay and nazi?) connotations. Our language is so colorful, it deserves better than a piecemeal treatment. Ed Poor