"Red" vs "orange" redux

[Wilson Gray]

Thanks for the info, Dave. However, discretion being the better part
of valor, I shall keep this to myself. My wife has made her decision.

Some background: somewhere or other, I once read that, for native
speakers of French, orange is supposedly a shade of red and not a
separate color. On  the other hand, native speakers of Russian
supposedly see two different colors where English-speakers see only
two shades of the same color, light blue and dark blue. This was
discussed here.

So, the point of the redux is that a native speaker of English
apparently agrees with the French that orange is only a shade of red.

FWIW, a French publishing publishes what it calls its "Serie rouge" of
paperback books on linguistics. IMO, the color of the covers of the
books in this series is, without a doubt, clearly orange.

-Wilson Gray

On 5/24/05, David W. James <vnend at adelphia.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "David W. James" <vnend at ADELPHIA.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Red" vs "orange" redux
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On May 18, 2005, at 5:17 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > In a conversation with my wife, I used the phrase, "orange traffic
> > cone."
>
> > She:  "What do you mean by "orange traffic cone"?
>
> > I:  "You know. Those things they use when they're doing work on the
> > street?"
>
> > She, in the special feminine tone of voice that says: This conversation
> > is over:  "Traffic cones are red."
>
> > -Wilson Gray
>
> Catching up after a busy weekend.
>
> The technical term is 'safety orange'.
>
> And, as someone whose weekends often include traffic cones in a pivotal
> role, they are orange.  I can probably find a picture of a red car next
> to (if not hitting) an orange cone.
>
> David
>


--
-Wilson Gray