# What's Up With The Color Blue? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481 "2012-10-12T02:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Naive\_Evian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Naive\_Evian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naive_Evian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/21 "2012-10-12T04:31:11Z")
How do you know that what you experience as blue is not what we experience as red? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/22 "2012-10-12T04:33:31Z")
> [@Naive\_Evian](#): > > How do you know that what you experience as blue is not what we experience as red? Can you see red? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/23 "2012-10-12T05:05:35Z")
Blue is [cool](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1x-y5ckIs). ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/24 "2012-10-12T07:19:47Z")
If I had to give up seeing any one color, I guess blue would be pretty high up on the list. I really wouldn’t want to give up green, as it’s my favorite. Red has too many warning applications to want to miss out on that. Similarly for yellow, also yellow is a happy color. Purple is too pretty to do without. Orange is one of my school colors so I have grown to like it. So as much as I like blue, I guess it is my least favorite color. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/25 "2012-10-12T08:01:52Z")
My favourite colour is red, but not to the point where I’d wear much of it, so I only go as far as the occasional t-shirt. Most of the time I pick the neutral-but-pleasant blue for my clothes. Green, on the other hand, can piss off. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/26 "2012-10-12T10:29:56Z")
Beige supremacy. edit: You know why. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/27 "2012-10-12T11:14:32Z")
I could learn to like red but my heart belongs to green. Deep, dark forestry green. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/28 "2012-10-12T11:28:05Z")
[Two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=555433) [polls](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=636839) on your favorite color. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/29 "2012-10-12T11:31:01Z")
Blue exists for making purple. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/30 "2012-10-12T11:39:29Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Blue is cool. But purple rules. > [@tapu](#): > > Remember the Luscher Color Test? 1970s pop psych? Right up there with Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs? > > Luscher suggests that those who choose purple as their favorite color tend to be children, immature adults, or pregnant. Johanna…? 😉 Wasn’t there a recent study concluding that men with purple bedrooms were the most sexually active? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/31 "2012-10-12T11:42:25Z")
Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry Because the sky is blue…aaaaaaahhhh ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/32 "2012-10-12T12:47:12Z")
Sammy Hagar, Red: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXK84eSp-1w&noredirect=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXK84eSp-1w&noredirect=1) > [@](#): > > Red’s my lover, got me covered > > Red’s my number and he’s a commer > > Red’s my drummer, I hear his thunder > > Move over brother, red is a motherf\*cker 😉 Silly song, but it makes me smile… I had read that primitive peoples who have limited language and vocabulary typically have three words for colors - black, white and red. And that blue is typically the color that is assigned a name last. I think it was mentioned in a book called Art & Physics; would be interesting if true. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/33 "2012-10-12T13:46:37Z")
Radiolab did an awesome show (as is their wont) on [color](http://www.radiolab.org/2012/may/21/), and they talked quite a bit about [blue](http://www.radiolab.org/2012/may/21/sky-isnt-blue/). Sadly, I can’t find a transcript, but it’s definitely worth a listen - even though some of their points are disputed in the comments section. Specifically, they talk about this: > [@WordMan](#): > > \*\*lue is typically the color that is assigned a name last. …and question this: > [@Chimera](#): > > The sky is blue. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/34 "2012-10-12T13:48:42Z")
Read Christopher Moore’s latest book, **Sacre Bleu!** , in which the title is taken very literally. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/35 "2012-10-12T13:53:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well I prefer green. It’s my favorite color and my favorite flavor. I can hardly see blue, so it doesn’t count. According to Lewis Black, original NyQuil tastes like green. (Red Nyquil tastes like red, of course.) Remind me not to have what you’re having. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/36 "2012-10-12T14:45:04Z")
I blue myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/37 "2012-10-12T14:51:19Z")
I prefer to think that we all have the same favorite color, it’s just that different wavelengths of light cause our minds to experience that color. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/38 "2012-10-12T14:54:30Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I had read that primitive peoples who have limited language and vocabulary typically have three words for colors - black, white and red. And that blue is typically the color that is assigned a name last. No, that would be [taupe](http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu200/dasheekyplus/Taupe.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/39 "2012-10-12T16:21:48Z")
Purple is for women and little kids, not for men. I liked reddish blue and blueish red when I was like six. Grow up and choose a side. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481/40 "2012-10-12T16:37:58Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Purple is for women and little kids, not for men. But my purple shirt draws more compliments than any other shirts that I own, save the fuscia one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-the-color-blue/637481.md?page=3)