# I want to learn the names of all the colors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487 "2010-10-17T22:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![petew83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/1 "2010-10-17T22:17:38Z")
I want to learn the names of all the colors. It is fascinating to me how simply learning the names of things improves perception and recall. Any advice for improving my color vocabulary? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/2 "2010-10-17T22:33:14Z")
What do you mean by “all the colors?” [Here](http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colornames.asp) is a list of the colors used in standard HTML coding, but beyond the dozen or so colors that are recognized as standard (red, green, blue, yellow, etc.) there is no universal standard for color names. Walk into a paint store some day and look at the thousands of paint chips they have on display and try to memorize all of those names. Then go to a different paint store, and they will have a completely different set of names. ---
**Author:** ![petew83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/3 "2010-10-17T22:38:25Z")
I thought maybe either Crayola or possibly Pantone. I might buy the Crayola art program. [http://www.amazon.com/Core-Learning-CRCS-1500-Crayola-Creative/dp/B0041RZR1A/ref=sr\_1\_3?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1287330688&sr=1-3](http://www.amazon.com/Core-Learning-CRCS-1500-Crayola-Creative/dp/B0041RZR1A/ref=sr_1_3?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1287330688&sr=1-3) FatBaldguy - that you link you gave is excellent thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/4 "2010-10-17T22:47:29Z")
[A recent color name survey](http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/) ---
**Author:** ![doubled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@doubled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubled)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/5 "2010-10-17T23:04:42Z")
And of course you can’t learn them all because there is literally an _infinity_ of colors. For any two colors you can think of, I can always find a new color in between. Between “Blue” and “Light Blue”, there is some middle color called “Sortof Light But sortof dark blue”. So there’s a new color for you to learn. But between that one and “Light Blue”, there’s another color called “Even lighter than sortof light bug sortof dark blue”. And there’s a slightly lighter shade of blue than that, and a slightly lighter shade of that too, etc for infinity. You cannot memorize all the colors anymore than you can memorize all the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/6 "2010-10-17T23:17:22Z")
> [@doubled](#): > > And of course you can’t learn them all because there is literally an _infinity_ of colors. For any two colors you can think of, I can always find a new color in between. But they don’t all have _names_. Learning “all the colors” may be a nonsense proposition, but learning all the names of all the _named colors_ isn’t (meaning, names that people actually use and don’t make up for the sake of the exercise). I mean, it’s maybe still impossible in a lifetime–but it’s not an absurd theoretical objective. There’s no need to dick around with “even lighter than sortof light blue,” but it is entirely commendable to aspire to know azure, cerulean, cornflower, sapphire and ultramarine. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/7 "2010-10-17T23:31:22Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > [A recent color name survey](http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/) I especially like the part listing which colors were disproportionately popular among men Vs. women. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/8 "2010-10-17T23:32:26Z")
all 16.7 billion of them ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/9 "2010-10-17T23:34:10Z")
[quote=“spark240, post:6, topic:557487”] > [@doubled](#): > > And of course you can’t learn them all because there is literally an _infinity_ of colors. For any two colors you can think of, **I can always find a new color in between**. Nope, Planck length would limit your measure of the wave length ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/10 "2010-10-18T00:20:05Z")
Since colors don’t get offended easily, you can probably get away with calling them “sport” and “champ” and tricking them into introducing themselves to each other and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/11 "2010-10-18T00:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Nope, Planck length would limit your measure of the wave length If you have a working theory of quantum gravity you’d like to share with the class, we’re all ears. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/12 "2010-10-18T00:34:35Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > > [@Pasta](#): > > > > [A recent color name survey](http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/) > > I especially like the part listing which colors were disproportionately popular among men Vs. women. I’m surprised the men’s list isn’t more taupe heavy. _flees_ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/13 "2010-10-18T00:49:13Z")
That’s because taupe is not a color. Peach and pumpkin are also not colors. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/14 "2010-10-18T01:00:29Z")
Using the hex codes used in HTML: #000000 Black #000001 Black as a coal mine at midnight #000002 Pretty darn black #000003 Getting gray. No, never mind, still black. #000004 Lack-of-light black #000005 Voidness-of-starless-space black #000006 No appreciable reflection of visible light #000007 Still detectable as black for most people Those are from memory, I’ll look up the complete list when I get a chance. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/15 "2010-10-18T01:00:58Z")
How many colors are in Webster’s? Where they actually hold the definition as a color. Peach would count as per definition#2 1: a : a low spreading freely branching Chinese tree (Prunus persica) of the rose family that has lanceolate leaves and sessile usually pink flowers and is widely cultivated in temperate areas for its edible fruit which is a single-seeded drupe with a hard central stone, a pulpy white or yellow flesh, and a thin fuzzy skin b : the edible fruit of the peach 2: a moderate yellowish pink 3: one resembling a peach (as in sweetness, beauty, or excellence) Something like cranberry would not count as per definition: 1: the red acid berry produced by some plants (as Vaccinium oxycoccos and V. macrocarpon) of the heath family; also : a plant producing these 2: any of various plants with a fruit that resembles a cranberry ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/16 "2010-10-18T01:03:53Z")
> [@doubled](#): > > And of course you can’t learn them all because there is literally an _infinity_ of colors. For any two colors you can think of, I can always find a new color in between. …You cannot memorize all the colors anymore than you can memorize all the numbers. “Color” is meaningless except in the context of cognition. There is an infinite number of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum, which is not the same thing as an infinite number of colors. OTOH any number that can be named can be perceived and understood as a distinct number. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/17 "2010-10-18T01:05:55Z")
I can tell you the names of at least four. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/18 "2010-10-18T01:07:59Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Using the hex codes used in HTML: > > #000000 Black > #000001 Black as a coal mine at midnight > #000002 Pretty darn black > #000003 Getting gray. No, never mind, still black. > #000004 Lack-of-light black > #000005 Voidness-of-starless-space black > #000006 No appreciable reflection of visible light > #000007 Still detectable as black for most people Those are just the blue ones. #010000 or #000100 is (roughly) as dark as #000001, so you need some way to distinguish them. Maybe, “If I could see anything other than black here, I guess it would be blue” would do? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/19 "2010-10-18T12:52:59Z")
Males and females see different numbers of colors. [Scientific proof here](http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=1406). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487/20 "2010-10-18T12:54:24Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I can tell you the names of at least four. Is black a color? Or merely the absence of light? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-the-names-of-all-the-colors/557487.md?page=2)