More color confusion

[Michael H Covarrubias]

It's a very hard stone. Typically either a dark yellow or a light blue. I'm not
sure which is the more common color for the stone but November's stone is the
yellow variety which probably influenced the typical intention.

mhc


>
> At 8:41 AM -0700 10/30/07, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >My wife says the color "topaz" is a dark yellow, and OED shows she's
> >right.  The color name has been in use for at least a century.
> >
> >   However, when she recently ordered a fashion item in "topaz" from
> >a well-known catalogue, the item was a light blue, very close to
> >turquoise.  But "turquoise" was an alternative color choice in that
> >very same catalogue!
> >
> >   Customer relations patiently explained that "topaz" really is
> >light blue but no green as turquoise.  Proof?  The manufacturer has
> >indeed designated the light-blue color as "topaz."
> >   And the OED definition, which was read to them, counts for nada.
> >So: credit but no free return shipping.
> >
> >   As a guy, I don't know "topaz."  It's a kinda rock, isn't it?
> >Could be any color. Probably gray.
> >
> >   JL
>
>
> Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> Support for the cataloguist's theory of "topaz" as against the OED
> version comes from the web site for the Topaz Hotel in Washington
> (which promises guests "a world filled with positive energy and good
> karma" as well as "a gentle yin to D.C.'s vibrant yang", promises I
> turned out not to be in a position to evaluate, since the hotel was
> already booked on the days I was going to be put up there).  A glance
> at the background at http://www.topazhotel.com/ clearly indicates
> they have something like turquoise in mind, and clearly not dark
> yellow (unless it's intended to refer to the color of the highlighted
> lettering on the site, which seems unlikely).
>
> Maybe "topaz" should be added to the "livid" file.  And maybe the OED
> needs to update their entry.
>
> LH
>
> P.S.  Ford/Mercury has a model called the Topaz but it comes in lots
> of different colors, so that doesn't help much.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>




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   English Language & Linguistics
   Purdue University
   mcovarru at purdue.edu

   web.ics.purdue.edu/~mcovarru
  <http://wishydig.blogspot.com>

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------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org