> we then learned about the spectrum in science class As an ex-PhD in physics, that part always makes me wince. "Color" as a physical concept does not exist, b

> we then learned about the spectrum in science class As an ex-PhD in physics, that part always makes me wince. "Color" as a physical concept does not exist, but we still try to say that "blue" is around 400 nm and "red" 700 or so. In reality "color" is a concept of our mind that is a complicated averaging/interpolation of the brain based on the response of cones in our eye. While the majority of people has more or less the same reaction, it can vary wildly. This is also the reason why culturally some colours are more or less important. > Maybe "brown" (brun?) is common Your comment made me remember a time I was with my children and some of their friends (they were 3 or 4 yo) and they were discussing about colors, including the soil. While "sly" was "blue", the soil was all kinds of things, including a new color "soily" :)