More color confusion

[Laurence Horn]

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

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