"There is a strong association between color and language, and if your language doesn't have a word for that color, you won't be able to see it. "

Fascinating! Though I have to say, I'm not as surprised as I might have been. I spent a year as an exchange student living abroad and speaking only a foreign language. After a few months of no longer reading or hearing English, I began to think and dream in that other language. And what really hit home to me was how much my thoughts were limited by my language. I was unable to clearly think a thought that I didn't have the words for in that language.

Similarly, that language lacked certain words that we have in English, so used either the English or French words. One of those words was 'party'. What that said about the culture -- that the whole concept of a party that was not a civic or religious celebration was foreign... On the other hand, they had an abundance of nuanced words describing spiritual concepts - not religion per se, but soul. The year after I returned, I was in school analyzing a piece of literature, and found myself unintentionally speaking in this other language. It was the only language I knew to describe the concept. Oops! I got some funny looks for that one...

I definitely agree because we only know that we call X is what other people all call X, we don't know how they see it.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose blue is also. I have noticed that I want to call some colors green that they would call blue, for example, so there must be some intrinsic variation.

I am a graphic designer/illustrator, I used to have a coworker who would complain about colors in the artwork I created insisting I change a color to something else. He once requested I change "that ugly red" and it dawned on me he was color blind, because there was no red in the art. When I called him on this, he admitted he was color-blind. While that is an extreme situation I have found that my client's reactions to what is beautiful and pleasing are so variable, that is stands to reason it is partially a matter of perception and the interaction of colors must only multiply perception differences.

Perception is indeed different in different people - as is tolerance for color saturation and pervasiveness, I think.

I call many colors blue that my DH calls green - he is far more sensitive to green undertones than I am.

I see and understand the variations and effects of the red-orange-yellow-green spectrum much more readily than I do the blue-violet-pink parts.

You can train your eye to be more sensitive to color - one of the best and most enjoyable ways is by studying clouds - at first, they appear white and gray, but look intently enough, and you begin to see all kinds of color in them.

Another good lesson is in the ladies in white dresses (oil) and the white houses on Corfu (watercolor) painted by John Singer Sergeant. Now, there's a guy who could see the colors in light!

When I was a child, my brother used to insist that purple items were blue. When I learned about color blindness it clicked. Here's a color test that was posted in Smaller Homes, then posted in this forum also, but maybe some haven't seen it: Take a Color Test!

BTW, AnnieDeighNaugh, I always think of you as 'any day now'--is that the story behind your username? :)

Wow! The test was fascinating! How did you all do? I'm a 4.

And of course I love being right...(is this a surprise to any of you...?).
My weakness was right in the narrow little bit between green and blue. To which I confessed two posts ago.

Designer, know thyself!

Wow, bronwyn's mom, you are impressive. I got a 30! And I really thought I had them all right!!!

I need to make my husband take this test, though he will likely blow it up and score the all-time worst! He can't believe a paint store needs to sell more than about ten colors.

I got a three and had trouble with the blue-green one, this seems to make sense. The highest score for my age/gender is 1520.

Mine, too, Palimpsest - we must be in the same decade, and that range made me feel even cleverer.
(In the take-it-where-you-can-get-it department...)

Mama goose, you got my name right...punster that I am.....

I actually was raised in a punnery!
;)

Oh, hell!
(Can I say that on GW???)
Now I can't call you "Annie" any more.

Lovely. I come from a punny family, too.
(the correction goblin just tried to change that to "puny.")

Found this test fascinating...but don't understand the scoring. I got a 69?? Highest for my demographic was 1520? What am I missing?

I don't understand either. I scored 75 and thought that was high (bad)compared to others here, but scoring also said 0=perfect color acuity and 99=low. We really are on the low side of 1520, but is that right?

Neat test! I got a 12 -- Interestingly, my scores were worst in the colors I like best! Corals, Aquas and Hyacinths...

What a great test - I scored a 3! Made me feel better about seeing undertones in paint that my husband doesn't - now I know I'm not crazy!

Thanks for the link!

When I took it several months ago I scored a 27. This time I took a little more time:

Online ColorIQ Challenge Results
Your score: 13
FM Hue Test Results

Of course, I was sure I had every one correct. I think the trick is not just dragging and dropping--it's overlapping the blocks and comparing the hues.

I got a 30. I took it pretty quickly and think I could've done better if I'd given it some time. I had trouble with the blue-greens even though those are the colors I'm drawn to. I'm 45 and female.

Annie, I love puns and word play. I could never understand the phrase 'no pun intended'!

mama_goose (Not my real name, either.)

I took the test twice, a few hours apart to see if there would be a difference. And because it was fun. I scored 36 and then 34, so I am consistent. I knew I didn't do it perfectly but, realistically, that's how I do everything in life, close enough. Isn't there a Magnaverde rule about people like me - the easily complacent are easily satisfied? Or low standards keeps the simple minded happy? Something like that.

What did surprise me a little was that my score was better than all my sisters. The one who we think has color identification issues (she insists a UPS truck is green) scored 60.

Just completed the test and got a 4...I made errors in the teal range which are also colors I love. Very frustrating in that I knew I had something wrong, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to make it right....even with comparing to the other surrounding colors.

Fun test...thanks for posting, mama, not your real name, goose!

Not that it got me anything but bragging rights, but for those of you who watch Fashion Police, I came up with the name for the fans of the show...the Joan Rangers. I knew my punstering would come to some use eventually.

Wow thanks for the test link didn't know such a critter existed. I scored a 12 the first time then a 4 some how my blues are poor also one of my favorites.

I got a 23 and my blue greens were poor and those are the colors I love. I did mine very quickly and didn't recheck so maybe I could have done better if I gave it some thought.

4 also with errors in the blue/green area as well. Very interesting test!

11, thought I'd do a little better. Weak in the blue/greens also the purple/pinks. Fun test!

I took it months ago - when first posted I guess. I got a fairly low score (wouldn't even want to guess at it now). I was off on the blue green also. Green is one of my favorite colors, blue isn't. Those are 2 colors my sister and I most often disagree on.

so mama g - does that mean I can't call you 'mama g' anymore?

LOL, steph, by now you know the real me...call me anything you want. ;) Remember the post that I signed 'mama c.(clutter is my middle name) goose'?

There is a current thread in the Kitchens forum asking for pics of colorful/moderately colorful kitchens, with some beautiful kitchens posted. But, there is a range of colors, from an almost 'circus big top' example I posted, to very subdued earthy colors, with several posters questioning if their own kitchen is considered colorful enough for the thread.

I admire those who can decorate with bright, cheery, primary colors, although I'm more comfortable living with earth tones. Using a calm green (my perception of Dried Hydrangea), and some colorful accessories in my kitchen is a step outside the box for me.

I've only started rethinking my own palette since I stopped practicing - after spending all day with color, pattern, and form, all I really wanted was a hot bath in an all white room with a big crystal clear martini, and a big soft ivory linen chair in a room without a pattern anywhere to be found!

Fun test! I scored 7. I wonder how the scores would change for some with truer colour paint chips or fabric swatches as opposed to monitor glare and tint. When I first began it looked crazy difficult, I thought I would get the dismal 1520 (who was that person?!?), but you really start to look deeply and trust yourself.

Whoa, I got a zero. I've done this before and got a 4 or 6 or something pretty low, but this time I was zoned. There is this shadow thing that appears like a long arc when you get them all right.

Yes, segbrown, I noticed that shadow thing too...couldn't tell if it was from the monitor or too much staring at the screen, but if you saw it too, it must be there.

Another program was on and talked about the impact of the color red.

They had this attractive woman with a good figure in a snug fitting dress in white walk the streets and she got no second looks...they had her pan handle and no takers. Then they put her in the exact same dress, only it was red....guys turned their heads to look at her like crazy and she was very successful with pan handling...even getting more than the $1 she asked for. Then they had her feign a sprained ankle...one guy actually picked her up and carried her across the street!

Amazing.

Wow, how is it possible for something to be fun and headache-inducing at the same time? I got a 12. I don't think I have the patience to retry for a better score!

Where/how are you seeing which colors you did better and worse on? I don't see anything besides my score and the range for me age/gender (which sounds like it must be the same for everyone: 0-1520).

jessi, below the score was a panel that showed the colors you got wrong and what scale they were from.

Thanks, Annie! I buzzed right by that to see the age/gender thing. Thankfully it was still there when I hit the back button.

Another interesting point about vision and how it supersedes taste.

They had people taste lemon jello that had been died red and they thought it was cherry or berry.

They put box wine in a bottle with a fancy french label and another bottle with a cheap looking label. People swore the fancy french one was excellent tasting and the plain label one was lousy, even though they were both the same box wine.

Such is the power of color and design.

I remember an article in the New Yorker where they enlisted a bunch of wine experts to do a taste test. These experts were presented with wine in two identical black goblets & asked one simple question.

They weren't asked which wine was from grapes from the north side of which vineyard's hill, versus grapes from the south side of the hill; nor were they asked to identify which glass held a '62 versus a '68 vintage. Neither were they supposed to identify which was the import & which the domestic, nor even which wine was an expensive vintage & which one been poured straight ouutta the cardboard box from Big Lots.

No the question was much simpler:

Which one is red, & which one white?

Their success rate was about the same as flipping a coin.
Like it or not, color influences us in almost everything.

That being said, I'm very happy to announce I beat you all:

I got a 242!!!!!! Whoo-hooo! Take that, Flanders!

What????


It's the l-o-w score that's better?

Well, I have only two things to say to that.

A) I was in a hurry

and

B) you're all cheaters!!!!!!!

Ok, I'm the world's worst decorator....so what does it mean if I got a 0? ...maybe art is in my future?!

LOL, magnaverde!

I hope this isn't too far OT, but I have another, more mundane, color/taste observation. Every year I make gallons of that middle-class holiday staple, cranberry Jello salad. My recipe, from a church cookbook, states "any flavor red gelatin." I prefer to use the red raspberry flavor, but I think almost all artificial 'fruity' flavors taste alike. Following are some ingredient lists for (basically) the same salad, found on the internet, on different sites:

1 (6 oz.) pkg. raspberry gelatin
1 c. boiling water
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, save juice
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 (14 oz.) jar cranberry-orange relish
1 c. diced apples
1/2 c. broken pecans
1/4 c. celery, chopped

1 lb fresh cranberries crushed or minced
2 packages black cherry Jello
1 medium orange peeled and seeded (all white must be removed)
1 cup pecans or walnuts crushed
1 cup sugar

2 sm. strawberry Jello
1 Ocean Spray cran fruit (12 oz.)
1/2 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
12-16 red grapes
1/4 c. chopped nuts
2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. cold water

1 lg. pkg. orange Jello
2 c. hot water
10 c. cold water
1 jar orange cranberry relish
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

I was surprised to find this one, too:

1 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jello
1 2/3 c. water
1/2 c. celery, chopped or diced
1/2 c. nut meats
1 c. ground cranberries
1/2 c. ground orange
2/3 c. sugar
Or 1 c. cranberry orange relish may be used

I'd be willing to wager that very few people, least of all myself, could tell what 'flavor' of gelatin was used in the final product.

Thank you M. for your post! I got a 36 on my first causal attempt, and after reading all the 2's, 4's and 5's here, didn't post my score. My second, semi serious attempt landed only a 16.

I do believe that test is indeed flawed because I KNOW, I KNOW color!!

Whatever! Design counts too...

Thanks for posting the test! I scored an 8 and have a headache! lol It sure is hard to do, but I have a large new monitor and I think that helped me.

FUN discussions about color, I love that color is such a science all on its own, so much to learn so much information out there!

I wonder how much our scores were affected by things like screen size and monitor accuracy?

Who is the better chef....the guy with the weak palette and a lousy sense of taste
or the guy with the palette that is very discriminating and sensitive to taste?

In fact, it is the guy with the poor palette. He can't taste things well so he adds more flavoring and his cooking is more flavorful. The guy who has sensitive taste buds tastes everything so his cooking is bland to people with normal tastes....

Could it be the same with decorating? Maybe those with lower color vision select schemes that blend better or are more creative, or are more sensitive to light and dark or tonal qualities and feel even richer to those who can see color well...

Both Picasso and Constable are said to have been color blind....

I knew there had to be a technical reason I did so badly on this silly meaningless "test" and Jessicml nailed it: screen size & monotor accuracy. Stupid Commodore 64!

Now if you'll all excuse me I'm going to go drown my sorrows in five flavors of Jell-o.

What a super cool test. I got an 8 and my worst colors were the purple pinks. Funny as these are colors I never use.

Thanks for posting that test!!!!

I tried it on my large new monitor -- and got exactly the same score with my errors in exactly the same spots! So I can't blame it on the monitor... But looking at their 'scoring rainbow', I also see 'stripes' in those areas where, even with the larger color stripes, I'd disagree with their placements.

So I'm just going to say 'I disagree'!

I scored a "4" and my 13 year old son scored a perfect score. What a fun test!