# Numbers have colors **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2001, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579 "2001-08-02T02:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roger\_the\_Shrubber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@Roger\_the\_Shrubber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_the_Shrubber)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/21 "2001-08-02T23:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > \*\*Does anyone have any stats on how supposedly “rare” this is? The article I read said it was rare, as if it was some sort of Oliver Sacks-esque condition. Yet it seems like a lot of people do it to some extent. I get colors for numbers, days of the week, months of the year, and some letters and names. > > PS I can’t believe no one else thinks 5 is red! I feel so alone! \*\* You’re not alone, delphica. 5 is DEFINATELY red. Why doesn’t anyone else see it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/22 "2001-08-03T00:00:06Z")
So… Do nerds do this with binary? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/23 "2001-08-03T00:10:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*So… > > Do nerds do this with binary? \*\* 0 is black. 1 is white. And I’m finally remembering the other colors. 2 is red. 3 is pink. 4 is yellow. 5 is orange. 6 is purple. 7 is yellow. 8 is green. 9 is light blue. For me, this isn’t necessarily the same as for everyone else. When I was a child, I had a puzzle that had the numbers 0-9 in those colors, and I played with it a lot. That’s why I have this association. btw, my earlier post doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me now. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/24 "2001-08-03T01:33:39Z")
No colors, but physical sensations. - Even numbers are warm and soft (and feminine). - Odd numbers are prickly and hard (and masculine). I get a distinct _feel_ when I see numbers. It’s almost as if they’re touching me. - Strings of similar numerals or simple repeating patterns (like 24242) are good, dissimilar or apparently random ones are bad and disorienting. Strangely enough, this means that the number 666 (even and repeating) has quite a pleasant feel to me, Beast aside. - Even numbers are easy to remember. Odd numbers are difficult. I loathe my Social Security number, which has more odd than even numerals. It’s prickly to write and took me forever to memorize. rivulus ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/25 "2001-08-03T03:23:36Z")
At the moment… 1-- black (or gray–depends on the font) 2-- yellow (made of wood, perhaps, but just the color of urine) 3-- light, leafy green, because clover leaves are green 4-- dull brownish red or mahogany (angular, sharp) 5-- cold blue, sort of dark and metallic (sinister) 6-- yellow-orange 7-- dark grey, or purple (laughing) 8-- yellow-tan, or orange 9-- dull, pinkish red, without the yellow hue of 4 (color of a tongue) And this next isn’t really synaesthesia, but a weird personal numerology: 1-- neutral (yet synaesthetically a bit of a man in a gray flannel suit) 2-- female (prime) 3-- male (prime) 4-- female 5-- union of male & female (imperfect) 6-- union of male & female (perfect) 7-- possibly male (synaesthetically masculine) 8-- female, even matronly 9-- male 10-- a crowd 11-- male? 12-- female? 13-- my lucky number, often male 0-- nothing Since I learned to see even as female & odd as male, it’s influenced my numero-synaesthesia. ---
**Author:** ![Sunglasses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Sunglasses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunglasses)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/26 "2001-08-03T12:15:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by katiekilldare \* > I am so so sorry, but **3** , **8** , and **blue** are all female. **Yellow** , **orange** , and **5** are all boys. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be. > \*\* You could not be more mistaken! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunglasses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Sunglasses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunglasses)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/27 "2001-08-03T12:17:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by katiekilldare \* > I’m so glad someone else has assigned numbers a gender. I suddenly feel much more at peace in the world. 🙂 \*\* I’m with you. I honestly thought I was the only one. ---
**Author:** ![deepbluesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@deepbluesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deepbluesea)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/28 "2001-08-03T13:05:48Z")
Of _course_ numbers have colors. But for me, the letters of the alphabet have much stronger colors; it’s to the point where I associate many words (and the concepts they represent) with their color combinations, and I decide what names I like based pretty much solely on their colors. The sounds that the letters of the alphabet make also have colors, naturally, and those don’t always correspond with the colors of the physical letters themselves, probably at least in part because so many letters have more than one sound. But, for numbers: 0-white 1-grey blue 2-yellow 3-green 4-midnight blue 5-charcoal grey 6-pink 7-orange 8-brick red 9-brown Mine continue with single, special colors up to 19. At that point, they just become blends or combinations of their component numbers. I don’t assign gender to them, though. And those of you that do are just plain freaks. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579/29 "2001-08-03T15:00:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Logical\_Phallusy \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > > PS I can’t believe no one else thinks 5 is red! I feel so alone! > > You’re not alone, delphica. 5 is DEFINATELY red. Why doesn’t anyone else see it? 😉 \*\* Woohoo! I’m going to start the Society of the Red Five, and we’ll have secret meetings and a secret handshake and all sorts of cool stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/numbers-have-colors/74579.md?page=1)