# "What's your favorite color" is nonsensical to me **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523 "2014-08-14T16:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/1 "2014-08-14T16:59:52Z")
When someone asks “What’s your favorite color?”, the question just seems nonsensical to me. Why would anyone actually prefer one color over another? I know people DO, but it makes no sense to me. I can understand that some people do because they, say, think it goes better with their skin tone, or something else. When asked, I usually say that I wear more blue, so I guess blue must be it. But I really have no preference for blue over other colors. So is this common, or a symptom of some deep neurological deficit? 🙂 Anyone else feel this way? What common things / preferences make no sense to you? J. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/2 "2014-08-14T17:31:50Z")
Me too, thought I was the only one. I say blue because it’s a nice color, but it’s not like it’s my favorite really; I just say it because I feel obligated to give an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/3 "2014-08-14T17:37:47Z")
Tell them your favorite color is cerulean. That’ll shut them up. > **[Cerulean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerulean)** > > Cerulean (/səˈruːliən/), also spelled caerulean, is a shade of blue ranging between azure and a darker sky blue. The first recorded use of cerulean as a colour name in English was in 1590. The word is derived from the Latin word caeruleus, "dark blue, blue, or blue-green", which in turn probably derives from caerulum, diminutive of caelum, "heaven, sky". > "Cerulean blue" is the name of a blue-green pigment consisting of cobalt stannate (Co2SnO4). The pigment was first synthesized in the late ei... ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/4 "2014-08-14T17:45:17Z")
I can’t remember where I heard this many years ago, but this still cracks me up: Interview with a curmudgeon: Q: What is your favorite color? A: I hate colors. (My favorite is blue.) ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/5 "2014-08-14T17:47:18Z")
I believe there’s some scientific evidence that colors do produce physiological and psychological effects on people. It might have been new-age woo, I suppose, but years ago I had a parole officer tell me that her clients were much calmer and less agitated once she had the walls of the intake room they were first put in painted a muted pink, as opposed to the previous color scheme. If people can passionately like and heartily dislike a wide range of foods (presumably because of physiological differences in taste buds and olfactory glands), I don’t see why the same couldn’t be true of colors. I like blues and greens, but prefer deep ones to brighter or pastel ones. My mom’s favorite color is yellow; my grandmother’s was lavender. So much for heredity! ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/6 "2014-08-14T18:02:00Z")
When somebody asks me my favorite color my answer is for what? It depends on if I am going to eat it, drive it, wear it, or paint my walls with it. I don’t like orange or purple, yet my favorite flowers are tiger lilies and lilacs. I like blues and greens as long as they are clear colors, but yellow is pretty and so is lavender. Pinks. oranges, reds don’t appeal to me until I see a beautiful sunset. So no I don’t have a favorite color. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/7 "2014-08-14T18:15:24Z")
I’m fond of earth tones. But ten or twelve years ago, my work wife opined that I look best in blue; she had, improbably, sussed out my 20-day dress shirt rotation and told me I should put an extra blue day in each week. My wife also prefers me in blue, so I am forced to consider the possibility that they are right and I am wrong about how I should dress. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/8 "2014-08-14T18:33:03Z")
I feel that way about most things - color, food, music, etc. I like what I like, but don’t have an ultimate favorite of anything. Almost everything has millions of shades or variations, I can’t possibly settle on one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/9 "2014-08-14T18:46:24Z")
Knowing yours comes in handy when searching for the Holy Grail. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/10 "2014-08-14T19:05:32Z")
I favor the whole spectrum from Deep violet through the bluer greens. My absolute favorite is [periwinkle](https://www.google.com/search?q=periwinkle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CAjtU_XJE4KKjALtj4HIBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1461&bih=646) except when it’s [indigo](https://www.google.com/search?q=periwinkle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=CAjtU_XJE4KKjALtj4HIBA&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1461&bih=646#q=indigo&tbm=isch&imgdii=_). I can’t explain why to you, I can only say that when I se that color, I feel happy. Likewise I greatly dislike orange. That may be to do with early associations and the political leanings of my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather, but I really doubt it. I think I just have an inborn preference for “cool” colors, and rather dislike the “warm” ones. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/11 "2014-08-14T19:14:41Z")
My favorite color is green. Now stop overthinking things and just get on with your life. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/12 "2014-08-14T19:33:32Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Tell them your favorite color is cerulean. That’ll shut them up. > > [Cerulean - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerulean) Or say “[Jonathan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Culler).” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/13 "2014-08-14T20:01:53Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Me too, thought I was the only one. I say blue because it’s a nice color, but it’s not like it’s my favorite really; I just say it because I feel obligated to give an answer. If blue isn’t your favorite color then which one is.? I’d say mine is Hookers green. 😃 No really it is a bright green. And according to wiki is actually called “Bright Green”. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/14 "2014-08-14T21:06:29Z")
I hate “what’s your favorite movie/band/etc.” more. You want me to choose just one? Or even three? right now? The answer is supposed to be representative, but someday I’ll say “A Serbian Film” or something to shut them up. I just was thinking of this question earlier today, actually. I might answer “fulgin.” That will make most people 😕 I wouldn’t call Hooker’s green bright. It’s actually pretty dark. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/15 "2014-08-14T22:03:22Z")
A lot of the replies are from people saying what they’re favorite color is, or how it changes for different things, etc. To me, though, the whole question seems nonsensical. If I hadn’t heard other people ask it before, it would never occur to me that “it’s a thing”. I would never ask it of anyone else without having heard so many other people ask it. Are there other people who think about it this way (other than madmonk28)? J. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/16 "2014-08-15T02:17:52Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > When someone asks “What’s your favorite color?”, the question just seems nonsensical to me. Why would anyone actually prefer one color over another? It’s about beauty. We generally like the things we find more beautiful, right? Some colors are just more beautiful to me than others. Context factors into this too, but there are certain colors and color combos that I just really like… I remember, when I was a kid, finding the sea green Crayola crayon incredibly beautiful. I liked that one best. (Now I kind of wonder what I saw in that crayon.) > [@](#): > > So is this common, or a symptom of some deep neurological deficit? 🙂 Sounds like you just don’t see any qualitative difference in the beauty of various colors. I’d guess that some folks are just like that. Perception is an interesting thing. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/17 "2014-08-15T04:12:53Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Tell them your favorite color is cerulean. That’ll shut them up. > > [Cerulean - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerulean) Oh, sure. That’ll teach them–it’s their fault for not knowing that the Latin word for “blue” is \* caerulis. \* That’ll teach them not to speak to you without your permission. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/18 "2014-08-15T04:49:34Z")
Plaid. 😃 My niece always answers “rainbow”. ---
**Author:** ![Timetrvlr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Timetrvlr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timetrvlr)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/19 "2014-08-15T04:55:40Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > When somebody asks me my favorite color my answer is for what? > \*\* > It depends on if I am going to eat it, drive it, wear it, or paint my walls with it.\*\* I don’t like orange or purple, yet my favorite flowers are tiger lilies and lilacs. I like blues and greens as long as they are clear colors, but yellow is pretty and so is lavender. Pinks. oranges, reds don’t appeal to me until I see a beautiful sunset. > > So no I don’t have a favorite color. I agree, depends on what we’re talking about. I like very dark reds and blues in automobiles, blue in clothing, orange and red in Sikh temples, black in shoes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523/20 "2014-08-15T05:26:09Z")
As far as I am concerned everything can be red or purple. Some things can be a copper color. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-color-is-nonsensical-to-me/695523.md?page=2)