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I don't think that passage came within ten feet of anyone who speaks Japanese. Ao doesn't mean blue-green, it's more of a word that spans both, with set usages
by fenomas 10y ago
I don't think that passage came within ten feet of anyone who speaks Japanese. Ao doesn't mean blue-green, it's more of a word that spans both, with set usages for things we'd consider unambiguously one or the other (e.g. a cloudless sky, or the "go" part of a traffic light). In the context of eyes it always means blue though, so the example doesn't make much sense.
- xg15 10y agoOut of couriosity, how do they describe green eyes then? or do they have a separate word that only means green?
- fenomas 10y agoYep - it's "midori". I'm no expert but according to wikipedia it all stems from a time when Japanese had only four color names (red, white, black and "ao"), whereas other more specific names came later.
- xg15 10y agoAh, that makes sense. Thank you.
- wodenokoto 10y agoMidori is green.