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HelpRe: Jethro and Matilda - colours
in reply to a message by puck
I think the thing with names and colours is people don't often think of the same colours with the same names.
Matilda sounds mauve-raspberry to you but to me it's really dark green, almost black. To me, Jethro is pale yellow. Susannah is sandy yellow-orange, Benjamin is terra cotta... Emmeline is blue, Maeve is deep navy, Tamsin is orange, red and gold. Sylvia and Sophia are a shimmering, pearly white.
Just saying, cos if you do use these names you gotta think that people really don't see the same colours when they hear them..
But using Matilda cos you're descended of Matilda is cool :)
Matilda sounds mauve-raspberry to you but to me it's really dark green, almost black. To me, Jethro is pale yellow. Susannah is sandy yellow-orange, Benjamin is terra cotta... Emmeline is blue, Maeve is deep navy, Tamsin is orange, red and gold. Sylvia and Sophia are a shimmering, pearly white.
Just saying, cos if you do use these names you gotta think that people really don't see the same colours when they hear them..
But using Matilda cos you're descended of Matilda is cool :)
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My Spectrum
I have grapheme color synesthesia. When a name has prominent letters, it makes the whole name that color, though many have secondary colors where there are prominent letters. James is a very red name, for example, because both the letters J and M are red. Vowels are often not picked up for me unless they begin the word. Nathalie is mostly pale orange but the h creates a secondary hue of navy blue, which adds to the reason that I prefer the spelling Nathalie. Jasper is an interesting case because each letter has such a distinct color that it makes it the most colorful name for me. I can think of no other name that has so many colors.
How I associate each letter:
A - yellow
B - navy blue
C - light blue
D - brown
E - black or dark red
F - orange
G - deeper-than-medium red
H - blue
I - white
J - medium red
K - indigo
L - light blue
M - medium red
N - tawny
O - white
P - indigo
Q - pale blue
R - dark green
S - sage green
T - dark red
U - black
V - violet (easy to remember)
W - light blue
X - black
Y - brown
Z - black
1 - white
2 - green
3 - red
4 - blue
5 - yellow
6 - green
7 - red
8 - blue
9 - yellow
0 - white
I have grapheme color synesthesia. When a name has prominent letters, it makes the whole name that color, though many have secondary colors where there are prominent letters. James is a very red name, for example, because both the letters J and M are red. Vowels are often not picked up for me unless they begin the word. Nathalie is mostly pale orange but the h creates a secondary hue of navy blue, which adds to the reason that I prefer the spelling Nathalie. Jasper is an interesting case because each letter has such a distinct color that it makes it the most colorful name for me. I can think of no other name that has so many colors.
How I associate each letter:
A - yellow
B - navy blue
C - light blue
D - brown
E - black or dark red
F - orange
G - deeper-than-medium red
H - blue
I - white
J - medium red
K - indigo
L - light blue
M - medium red
N - tawny
O - white
P - indigo
Q - pale blue
R - dark green
S - sage green
T - dark red
U - black
V - violet (easy to remember)
W - light blue
X - black
Y - brown
Z - black
1 - white
2 - green
3 - red
4 - blue
5 - yellow
6 - green
7 - red
8 - blue
9 - yellow
0 - white
This message was edited 8/10/2014, 3:09 AM
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Woww... it's all neatly worked out and everything!! So I guess it's when you see the letters written down, not when you hear them spoken? If adding a H in Natalie adds blue?
Is it the same for other languages? Like do written French words give you the same colours because they use mostly the same alphabet, or do letters with accents change things? What about Chinese characters or Arabic script? Would they give you colours to or do they not mean anything?
Sorry, sorry for all the questions. I'm just thinking through my fingers. You don't have to answer if you don't want :D
Is it the same for other languages? Like do written French words give you the same colours because they use mostly the same alphabet, or do letters with accents change things? What about Chinese characters or Arabic script? Would they give you colours to or do they not mean anything?
Sorry, sorry for all the questions. I'm just thinking through my fingers. You don't have to answer if you don't want :D
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This is AWESOME. I now feel like I am missing out on something really cool.
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I don't. I never would have wanted to see my mom as a maroon-colored three dimensional square with black triangular spikes OH MY GOD.
There are only two names that I associate with colors without any concrete reason for doing so. Susan is yellow and David is brown. David is very very brown, which may be a reason I've never been able to like it. I don't know why those two names are those colors to me. The few others that I associate with colors, I can see there's a reason for it---Rose is red because of roses, Sylvia is silver because of the first syllable, Sally is yellow because I immediately think of the "Dick, Jane, and Sally" books that were used in my elementary school, in which Sally was the little sister with curly blonde hair. Their cat's name was Puff.
Even with these, it's pretty basic. Yellow, brown, red. There's no mauve or raspberry or lime green.
Come to think of it, "Dick, Jane, and Sally" is proof right there that Dick was usable at least through the 1950s.
There are only two names that I associate with colors without any concrete reason for doing so. Susan is yellow and David is brown. David is very very brown, which may be a reason I've never been able to like it. I don't know why those two names are those colors to me. The few others that I associate with colors, I can see there's a reason for it---Rose is red because of roses, Sylvia is silver because of the first syllable, Sally is yellow because I immediately think of the "Dick, Jane, and Sally" books that were used in my elementary school, in which Sally was the little sister with curly blonde hair. Their cat's name was Puff.
Even with these, it's pretty basic. Yellow, brown, red. There's no mauve or raspberry or lime green.
Come to think of it, "Dick, Jane, and Sally" is proof right there that Dick was usable at least through the 1950s.
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I honestly think my synesthesia isn't some mystical brain-thing, but the filtering of influences, memories, imagination and associations - like your Sally = yellow example. Sometimes it seems magical and random, but only because I can't trace the pathways of memory backwards. I find most of my colours to be pretty straightforward too - like most r names are red, because red starts with r. Some names I don't get colour-feelings for, because (I assume) there's nothing for my brain to draw on for it.
I don't know if that means I don't have "real" synesthesia or what.
I don't know if that means I don't have "real" synesthesia or what.
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We understand that color association is subjective here.
This message was edited 8/10/2014, 2:57 AM
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Quite a few of us around here mention colours when we talk about names, because many of us have touches of synesthesia (as it appears you do!). It's pretty well understood that names are different "colours" for different people. We just like sharing what we "feel" from the names, it's all in good fun :)
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Ohh... thanks :) I kind of didn't get that. I mean, I thought everyone matched names with certain colours but I knew that the colours are different for different people, so I was all like "not everyone is going to think Matilda is a raspberry name!"
Thanks for explaining!
Thanks for explaining!
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I've always wondered what was up with you "colour" people. Just googled synesthesia and took a quick test. Every question seemed completely outrageous to me! So I guess I do not even have a touch of synesthesia Wow, I had no idea this was a real thing.
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I don't have synesthesia, either. Motivated by your Googling, and pretty well bored tonight, I decided to Google it, too. I came upon this statement, made by a person who says s/he has synesthesia:
"Certain people have certain shapes too. This is really hard to describe. My mom, for instance, is a three-dimensional maroon coloured square with black triangular spikes. [italics added] My grandmother was rectangular and yellowish. I have an aversion to people who are orange diamond-shaped and avoid them like the plague."
This horrified me and sent chills down my spine.
My mom...black triangular SPIKES?
"Certain people have certain shapes too. This is really hard to describe. My mom, for instance, is a three-dimensional maroon coloured square with black triangular spikes. [italics added] My grandmother was rectangular and yellowish. I have an aversion to people who are orange diamond-shaped and avoid them like the plague."
This horrified me and sent chills down my spine.
My mom...black triangular SPIKES?
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Black triangular spikes.
Run awaaaay....
Run awaaaay....
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