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In short: Historically, blue and green were the same word. Green is now a separate word, but some green things are called "blue" including green traffic lights.
by rangibaby 8y ago
In short: Historically, blue and green were the same word. Green is now a separate word, but some green things are called "blue" including green traffic lights. Other "blue" things include apples and vegetables.
- Taniwha 8y agoyup, exactly this - Chinese is the same - but which characters they each finally chose are somewhat different
- wodenokoto 8y agoI think you are missing the major point of interest here: Traffic lights were introduced after the separation of color words and were originally called green light.
- freddie_mercury 8y agoThat doesn't seem to be what the article says at all: > this was most likely due to the fact that red, blue and yellow (赤青黄) are regarded as the three primary colors in Japanese painting. Hence the “blue” traffic lights.
- rincebrain 8y agoThey're also regarded as the three primary colors in US painting - I recall having it explained to me when very young with two color wheels as combining paint versus combining light.