Paterson J. A Dictionary of Colour - A Lexicon of the Language of Colour (анг. яз.)
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c golden yellow
A deep orangey-yellow.
n gold foil
Thin sheets of gold slightly thicker than gold leaf.
a gold-flecked
Having flecks of gold.
n goldilocks
A nickname for someone (usually a young girl) with golden hair.
n gold lamé
Fabric interwoven with gold thread.
n gold leaf
Gold in the form of very thin sheets used for the purpose of gilding. Although
often used by artists up to the 15th century, it became the fashion to use yellow
with a judicious use of light to create the illusion of a gold colour. See gold and
gold foil.
n gold medal
A medal, gold in colour if not in content, awarded as first prize in some endeavour,
particularly, the Olympic Games.
n golds
Should there be a disaster of any kind in London plans involve command of the
incident being assumed by a joint committee of the three emergency services
and the local authority involved. The top officers, responsible for overall strategy,
are called ‘golds’. The ‘silvers’ devise tactics and the ‘bronzes’ implement tactics.
Those casualties with the highest priority would be labelled ‘orange’, with yellow
and green designating the next two levels of priority. White will signify the dead.
n good colour
As regards printing, a term referring to an even or consistent application of ink.
184 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
c goose grey
A dark grey. ‘Goose-wing-grey’ is the description of the poles used in Barnett
in NW London in the erection in 2002 of the eruv – the boundary of the area in
which observant Jews may carry on the sabbath.
c gooseberry green
The yellowish green of the gooseberry; a colour name of the 1920’s. Also
‘gooseberry’.
c gosling-green
A light yellowy green;.
n gouache
An ancient water-based painting technique making use of opaque colours where
pigments are mixed with gum or chalk to form a paste; the pigment itself. Also
called body colour. To be compared with watercolour, as strictly defined, which
produces a much more transparent effect.
c Goya
A rich orange-red.
vb gradate; to
To move imperceptibly by stages from one colour tone to another.
c grain
A tan colour.
c Granada
A dark rich red colour.
c granite
A purplish grey.
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c grape
A dark purple or violet.
a graphic
As regards colour, vivid as in ‘graphic reds’.
c graphite
A dark metallic grey. Also ‘graphite grey’ made from crystallised carbon.
c grass-green
‘grass-green turf’: Shakespeare’s Hamlet Act 4 Scene 5 – a yellowish green; bearing
the colour of grass.
a grassy
Resembling grass in colour etc.
c gray
The Americanised spelling of ‘grey’. According to George Field’s Chromatography
(1835) ‘grey’ indicates a colour composed of black and white whereas ‘gray’
indicates any broken colour having a cool hue.
c Gray
One of the 140 colours in the X11 Color Set. It has hex code #808080.
n greasepaint
A thick greasy theatrical make-up.
a green
Inexperienced; new. Environmentally friendly. A colloquial expression describing
concrete at the stage before it has set.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
186 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
c green
The colour of growing grass. From the Old English ‘gréne’ and the Old Teutonic
root ‘grô’ from which we derive ‘grass’ and ‘to grow’. Green is said to have more
variations than any other colour and yet, despite the richness of our language,
there is a woefully inadequate supply of words to describe the variety of greens
in the British landscape. Ranges from approximately 575 to 500 nanometres.
One of the three additive primary colours. A symbol of hope; associated in
medieval times with the Zodiac signs Libra and Taurus and with the planet Venus.
The holy colour of Islam and used on the flags of many Muslim countries.
Associated once with fertility and springtime and now with environmentalism.
Why is it that surgeons gowns are usually green in colour and first aid kits are
also often green? Is it perhaps that (as chromotherapists believe) the colour green
can help to staunch the flow of blood? One of the 140 colours in the X11 Color
Set having hex code #008000. In English folklore green is widely supposed to
be unlucky especially as regards items of clothing – ‘wear green and you will soon
wear black’. Why this should be so is uncertain but is sometimes explained by
reference to the fact that green is the colour taken to be worn by fairies who punish
others for wearing it. Research in Münster has found that green police cars
generate little respect in Germany – green having been adopted in Germany for
this purpose as a rejection of militarism. It was found that blue and white or blue
and red patrol vehicles had a much more powerful effect.
n greenback
Slang for a US dollar note. Also folding green.
n green belt
An area of the countryside protected by planning laws against urban development.
n Green Book, the
The popular name for the Rules of the County Court in England and Wales.
n green brilliant
A green food additive (E142).Also called ‘Green S’.
n green earth
Another name for the mineral, glauconite, used as a pigment; a brown pigment.
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a green-eyed
Envious or jealous.
n green-eyed monster; the
Indicating jealousy – Shakespeare’s Othello Act 3 Scene 3.
n green fairy
Slang for absinthe.
n green famine
A term, particularly used in reference to Africa, where although there is green
vegetation on the land there is a serious food shortage possibly because the rainfall
is insufficient to produce adequate crops. Also ‘green drought’.
n green flash
The phenomenon capable of being observed at the moment the sun sets below
the horizon.
n greengage
A plum imported from France by Sir William Gage around 1725. He also
popularised the bluegage and the purplegage.
n Green Goddess
The name of the fire engines first produced in 1953, approximately 827 of which
are still used to fight fires in the UK at times of crisis and emergency such as a
strike by the Fire Brigades Union. The Green Goddess has only basic equipment
and one ladder with a 35ft reach in contrast to the five 45ft reach ladders carried
by the modern red fire engines. In Northern Ireland these vehicles are painted
yellow to avoid confusion with other army vehicles and are referred to as ‘Yellow
Goddess’ fire tenders.
n green gold
A name for sisal fibres.
188 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n green-hat thinking
A system devised by Dr Edward de Bono to teach creative thinking in meetings
etc. Green-hat thinking is intended to generate new ideas. There are five other
‘hats’ – white-hat-thinking is objective and neutral; black-hat thinking critical and
negative; yellow-hat, speculative; red-hat allows for feelings and emotion and
blue-hat thinking manages the thinking process.
n greengrocer
Someone who sells fruit and vegetables.
n greenhorn
A person lacking in experience; a new recruit; a novice; a simpleton.
n greenhouse
A structure made of glass or other transparent material which, by letting in heat
and light and at the same time providing protection from the elements, is ideal
for growing plants, flowers and vegetables.
n greenhouse effect
The process whereby, as a result of the increasing build-up of gases (particularly
carbon monoxide) in the lower atmosphere, the surface of the earth is being
warmed to give rise to so-called global warming.
n green ink brigade
A phrase used mainly by journalists to refer to those correspondents often regarded
as obsessive or eccentric, who write indignant letters of complaint to the press
or dotty letters warning of impending doom, many of which are alleged to be
written in green ink. But the use of green ink is not always stigmatised – a primary
school in Smethwick, West Midlands, will not allow teachers to use red ink to
correct pupils’ errors for fear of upsetting them. Green ink is to be used instead!
a greenish
One of the ‘ish’s’.
n Green Isle, the
See the Emerald Isle.
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n green light
A light or signal, green in colour, used as an indication that it is in order to proceed,
for example, on traffic lights; a sign that it is in order to go ahead with any course
of action.
n green line
One of the most famous green lines is that which has divided the Greek Cypriots
and the Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus since December 1963. The line
(so called because the British authorities in first determining the buffer zone on
a map of Cyprus used green ink) divides the city of Nicosia – the only capital in
the world still so divided.
n green lung
Greenfield land in towns and cities protected from development.
adv greenly
With a green colour, youthfully, timidly as in Shakespeare’s Henry V Act 5 Scene
2: Kate, I cannot look greenly, nor grasp out of my eloquence.
n greenmail
Jargon for a scheme (particularly in the US) whereby a potential bidder buys a
large enough percentage of the shares in a publicly quoted company to force it
to buy its own shares at a higher price in order to prevent a takeover. Greenmail
(which is not unlawful) is compared with blackmail which is.
n green number
The zero or double zero in roulette.
n greenockite
A mineral containing cadmium sulphide named after Lord Greenock and used
to produce cadmium yellow and cadmium orange.
n Green Paper
A government document in the UK and Canada containing
proposals for introducing new policies or legislation with the
purpose of soliciting opinion. See White Paper.
n green pound
A unit used in working out the amount of the UK’s contribution
to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
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n green room
Originally a retiring room for actors which was decorated in green to provide
relief from the glare of the limelight but now also a room in which performers
and guests relax before appearing on television. World Wide Words suggests
that the term has nothing to do with the relaxing effect on the eyes of the colour
green since green rooms are referred to as early as the 17th century when candles
were the only form of stage lighting. It is possible that the expression derives
from the fact that some stages in the 17th century were decked with green baize
to prevent damage to actors’ costumes or because waiting rooms were decorated
with imitation grass. There may, however, be some truth in the fact that green
can promote relaxation since Russian scientists have discovered that green lenses
help cosmonauts to relax. The theatre’s connection with the colour is further
extended by the Cockney rhyming slang term ‘green’ (greengage) for the stage.
The adoption of green in all this is somewhat odd since it has long been regarded
as unlucky in the theatre to have a green set or green costumes.
n greens
A familiar term for cooked green vegetables.
n Green S
A food additive giving a green colouring (E142).
n green-sickness
A form of anaemia indicated by a pale greenish complexion. According to
Stormonth this is chiefly confined to unmarried females and according to Websters
1906 edition to virgins! Shakespeare’s Anthony & Cleopatra Act 3 Scene 2, Pericles
Act 4 Scene 6, Henry IV Part 2 Act 4 Scene 3 and Romeo & Juliet Act 3 Scene 5
(where the term is used as an adjective).
n greensward
An area covered in grass or turf.
n greentailing
Retailing carried out in a manner which takes account of environmental consid-
erations, for example, shops concentrating on organic goods.
n green taxes
Those duties and impositions intended by government either to encourage
taxpayers to have a more responsible attitude towards the environment or to raise
money to enable the government to spend money on improving the environment.
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n greenth
Greenness; ‘Amidst the gleams and greenth of summer’ George Eliot’s Daniel
Deronda.
n green thumbs
The equivalent in the US to British green fingers. See Phrases.
n Green Travel
With effect from 6 April 1999 the Inland Revenue has reduced the incidence of
tax and National Insurance from certain travel plans (known as ‘Green Travel
Plans’) which are intended to reduce the use employees make of cars such as
free or subsidised works’ buses.
n green welly brigade
A derogatory term for upper middle class denizens of the British countryside
(and those who visit it) distinguished by their green wellington boots as opposed
to the more common black variety.
n greenwash
Misleading information or spin disseminated by businesses in order to make them
appear more environmentally responsible. Possibly a play on ‘eye-wash’.
c GreenYellow
One of the colours in the X11 Color Set. It has hex code #ADFF2F.
c grège
See beige and greige. An olive grey colour.
c greige
A combination of grey, and beige; also referred to as grège. A similar colour to
écru.
c grenat
Deep red as in the precious stone garnet of which the colour happens to be an
anagram.(It is merely coincidence that it is also an anagram of the next entry).
Also known as ‘granat’.
c Gretna Green
A ‘greenish yellow-green’ says Partridge from the Scottish village made famous
for runaway marriages. Until around the time of Elizabeth I it was customary
for wedding dresses to be in green rather than white.
192 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
c grey
The colour of lead and of ash and of the hair of the middle-aged; a mixture of
black and white. A bleak colour but perhaps resurrected by the Chinese
government’s decision to paint the buildings of Beijing grey as part of its bid to
stage the 2008 Olympic Games – ‘Grey matches our climate, cultural background
and tradition’ says Beijing as reported by The Times (7.11.00) in what must be
one of the very few Leaders devoted to a colour. An achromatic hue. An example
of how colours are used as nouns occurs in Marks & Spencer’s explanation of
why their 1999 half year pre-tax profits halved to £546.1 million – ‘we bought too
much grey’. A colour used in this way, that is in a referential sense, is intended
to include all shades of the colour whereas a person using a colour term in an
adjectival or descriptive sense has a particular hue in mind.The part of the brain
which perceives and processes grey-scale images is different from that part of
the brain which deals with colour. The US spelling is ‘gray’.
n grey area
A problem or issue which does not admit of a clear unequivocal answer or
resolution; something which has ill-defined characteristics; something with features
causing it to be positioned between two extreme categories by virtue of having
some of the characteristics of each category.
n grey economy
That element of a country’s economy generating income from activities (such as
moonlighting and housework) which, though not part of the illegal black market,
are not included in government official figures.
n grey goo
The science fiction term devised by Eric Drexler in The Engines of Creation and
extended by authors such as Michael Crichton in his novel Prey to describe the
mass of useless objects which could be created by the application of
nanotechnology thus causing a blight on the surface of the earth. Nanotechnology
could, in theory, give rise to uncontrollable minute robots (or nanobots)
replicating themselves without human involvement and manipulating molecular
structures so as to be able to create new objects. However, this is thought not
to be a merely hypothetical risk. The astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees in his book
Our Final Hour warns of the risk of nanotechnology ravaging civilisation unless
research in this area is controlled and Prince Charles in April 2003, with the support
of environmentalists, has joined the clamour for more serious debate with a view
to avoiding a doomsday catastrophe resulting from grey goo experiments.