# Email's homophone **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610 "2020-02-27T18:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/1 "2020-02-27T18:20:48Z")
Hi, all- I was reading a grammar and usage manual from a pedant in my industry, and came across this: “(By the way, note that email (pronounced “ay-my”) is a color.)” Imagine trying to google “what color is email?” It doesn’t work. Does anybody know what color email is? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/2 "2020-02-27T18:45:21Z")
I can’t parse what your source thinks the pronunciation should be? Is the 2nd syllable pronounced like the word “my” as in, my car? ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/3 "2020-02-27T18:47:29Z")
I’ve only seen it written down, so I can’t say for sure. I mentally have been pronouncing it as “hay” without the “h” and “my”, the standard pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/4 "2020-02-27T18:56:50Z")
Purple. (Amythest ) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/5 "2020-02-27T19:28:39Z")
“Email” also means to emboss by hammering over chain mail (the armor, not the pastime). At least, I think. The web is not so easy for looking up obscure and antiquated uses of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/6 "2020-02-27T19:29:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Purple. > (Amythest ) I can’t believe someone knows! Is it an English word in this form? Is it a word used only in a specific subject matter? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/7 "2020-02-27T19:38:12Z")
I think you mean homonym, not homophone. Homophones are two words that are spelled differently, but pronounced the same, but here I think you mean two words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/8 "2020-02-27T19:48:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Purple. > (Amythest ) That is my birth stone. Coincidence? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/9 "2020-02-27T20:02:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is my birth stone. Coincidence? I think not. what day? Are you a leap baby? ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/10 "2020-02-27T20:06:13Z")
What language are we talking about here? I’m really confused. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/11 "2020-02-27T20:15:09Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I think you mean homonym, not homophone. Homophones are two words that are spelled differently, but pronounced the same, but here I think you mean two words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. You are correct. I came across the distinction after I posted and used the wrong word. But, I learned the new (to me) word “homograph,” which would have been correct in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/12 "2020-02-27T20:27:22Z")
Yes, homograph is the correct word. Homophone means pronounced the same while homonym means having the same meaning. Homographic heterophones (or is it heterophonic homographs) are two words spelled the same but pronounced differently, such as lead (the metal) and lead (the verb). In French, the word email, pronounced roughly aymai, means enamel. I have never seen it as an English word, but what do I know? The French word for email is courrierel. Courrier is mail and el obviously refers to electronique. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/13 "2020-02-27T20:28:01Z")
> [@DaveRaver](#): > > What language are we talking about here? I’m really confused. me too 😕 ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/14 "2020-02-27T20:35:14Z")
[This French color chart](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/af/67/43/af674339b96a1c115f415f4e079b6f2a.jpg) shows _Bleu Email_ as a sort of turquoise. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/15 "2020-02-27T20:45:24Z")
oops! edumacated! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/16 "2020-02-27T20:54:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > what day? Are you a leap baby? That is a state secret, lest Swampy send me colorful, oversize birthday greetings in the MMP. I am not a leap baby. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/17 "2020-02-27T21:11:25Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > [This French color chart](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/af/67/43/af674339b96a1c115f415f4e079b6f2a.jpg) shows _Bleu Email_ as a sort of turquoise. In French, “émail” means enamel, pronounced “ay MY.” ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/18 "2020-02-27T21:32:38Z")
> [@Mithril](#): > > Does anybody know what color email is? No, because émail is not a color—it’s a material. I’m nearly certain that Mithril’s source has mistranslated from French. _Bleu èmail_ translates literally as “enamel blue,” and [Pantone has defined just such a color](https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/18-4733-TPX) in English. I’m not a native francophone, though my French became passable when I lived in Normandy for a year. All the native-francophone graphic designers on the board (or anyone else who knows for sure) are welcome to correct me. ETA: My year in Normandy was a loooong time ago, and I’m quite rusty now. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/19 "2020-02-27T22:22:51Z")
Thank you all for the information! It warms my heart that the writer seems to be mistaken, considering that he often makes the victims of his pedantry cry. I don’t know him, so it will be a quiet vindication. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610/20 "2020-02-27T23:34:51Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Purple. > (Amythest ) Cite? It seems that others have the actual explanation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/emails-homophone/848610.md?page=2)