File this under “One of those Things That Might Make Me a Jerk”, but it often bugs me when people use alternate words to describe certain colors. It just does. Like saying something is orange when it’s yellow or pink when it’s salmon… though, admittedly, sometimes salmon walks a fine line. Swims a fine line? Whatever. Or gray when it’s blue, etc.
Color-blind? Ok, I’ll have to suck it up there – my dad was colorblind (or so I suspect of Mr. Olive Pants-Brown Shoes-Purple Shirt) – but only about 5% of men and less than 1 percent of women are likely to be color-blind so when I hear a reference to something as yellow when it’s orange or vice versa, it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. Hopefully, this doesn’t incite the wrath of the color-impaired.
I realize it’s the persnickety designer in me, the part that actually cares about the nuances of ecru vs. tan vs. cream vs. eggshell. And I realize sometimes people can’t help it and color may be considered somewhat subjective, but I certainly am not going to go outside and declare the sky aubergine simply because that’s how I perceive it (that’s ‘eggplant’ or a deep purple/black with what some might call a slightly red undertone, in case you were wondering). And no, I don’t think the sky is eggplant.
