# Pink=girl, blue=boy, worldwide? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758 "2015-08-01T21:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/41 "2015-08-05T06:11:17Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It seems clear that orange was a late addition to English, doubtless named after the fruit (called Chinese apple in some other languages, such as German). What color is a redhead? What color is red rust? Before the introduction of the word ‘orange’ to English, The colour was described as a shade of red or scarlet - there’s probably no better example of this than one of Britain’s very, very few native orange flowers, [the scarlet pimpernel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagallis_arvensis). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/42 "2015-08-05T07:16:05Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > The fun part of what **markn+** has shared with us is that people have trouble recalling colors when they don’t have words for them. So if you give someone an infinite color paint set and ask them to draw a rainbow, there is no reason to expect them to use seven colors unless they were taught that there are seven in a rainbow. The Irish language has three different words which are translated into English as “green”. But they are not interchangeable, and to us they do not describe different shades of the same colour, but different colours. English-speakers describe all these colours as “green”, and presumably regard them all as shades of one colour. So I think it’s not just that people don’t recall colours for which they have no name; they don’t even see them. (As in, register them, observe them.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/43 "2015-08-05T07:41:19Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > The deeper parts of the Aegean can seem so dark as to be almost black. I think we’re indeed extremely influenced by cultural expectations. We “know” that the default colour of the sea is blue. But in fact, if you observe it objectively, it’s rarely blue. And we marvel at the beauty when we see an actually blue lagoon. Deciding that the sea is black doesn’t seem particularly outlandish to me. Another example of it is the sun always being depicted as yellow, even though objectively it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/44 "2015-08-05T15:17:04Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > So why is Wednesday night different? On all other nights we eat leavened products and matzah, and on Wednesday night only matzah. On all other nights we eat all vegetables, and on Wednesday night only bitter herbs. On all other nights, we don’t dip our food even once, and on Wednesday night we dip twice. On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining, and on Wednesday night we only recline. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/45 "2015-08-05T20:48:04Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Another example of it is the sun always being depicted as yellow, even though objectively it isn’t. I don’t know if that is the same. The sun, when it is high in the sky, is brilliantly, obviously white. But you can’t look at it for more than a split second at those times. But when the sun is low in the sky, it is indeed yellow. Then orange, then red, and then gone. So I think we often depict the sun as yellow because the only times we can look at it without extreme pain, it _is_ yellow, or darker. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758/46 "2015-08-10T05:19:55Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I don’t know if that is the same. The sun, when it is high in the sky, is brilliantly, obviously white. But you can’t look at it for more than a split second at those times. But when the sun is low in the sky, it is indeed yellow. Then orange, then red, and then gone. So I think we often depict the sun as yellow because the only times we can look at it without extreme pain, it _is_ yellow, or darker. It’s also up against a light blue background, so the contrast can make it seem yellow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-girl-blue-boy-worldwide/726758.md?page=2)