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Any day that I learn something new about color is a good day. Here's my favorite color factoid: There is no such thing as monochromatic pink. You have to make

Any day that I learn something new about color is a good day. Here's my favorite color factoid: There is no such thing as monochromatic pink. You have to make it by combining the two ends of the visible spectrum: somethung reddish and something violet-ish. So that means there is no pink in a rainbow, strictly speaking.

wdutch 6mo ago
When I was young I was taught that pink is a light shade of red. But what kids these days call pink seems to me to be a bright magenta.
- dotancohen 6mo ago
  The word "pink" is derived from a name this flower had about 600 years ago: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Dianthus_caryophyllus_L_%28Clove_pink%29.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Dianthus... So however you see that flower, that's the literal pink prototype.
  - IAmBroom 6mo ago
    And the flower is named for its "cutmarks" on its petal edges, which resemble pinking on cut fabric.
    - dotancohen 5mo ago
      Thank you.
antiterra 6mo ago
This is conflating two kinds of pink. The pink made from combining ends of the spectrum is most commonly termed ‘hot pink.’ The other, very often just ‘pink,’ is predominantly a light red. A quick and sloppy way to describe this is a light grey with a raised red component. Also, you can make hot pink without needing to use spectral violet (the ‘end’ of the spectrum) since there are combinations of blue and red that are ‘metameric,’ creating a perceptually matching response in our eyes.
- matthewmacleod 6mo ago
  The other, very often just ‘pink,’ is predominantly a light red. A quick and sloppy way to describe this is a light grey with a raised red component. While that’s true, it’s also still not monochromatic in the electromagnetic sense.
  - antiterra 6mo ago
    Absolutely, I had that in my draft but chopped it out along with a digression into black body radiation.

wdutch 6mo ago

When I was young I was taught that pink is a light shade of red. But what kids these days call pink seems to me to be a bright magenta.

dotancohen 6mo ago
The word "pink" is derived from a name this flower had about 600 years ago: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Dianthus_caryophyllus_L_%28Clove_pink%29.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Dianthus... So however you see that flower, that's the literal pink prototype.
- IAmBroom 6mo ago
  And the flower is named for its "cutmarks" on its petal edges, which resemble pinking on cut fabric.
  - dotancohen 5mo ago
    Thank you.

antiterra 6mo ago

This is conflating two kinds of pink. The pink made from combining ends of the spectrum is most commonly termed ‘hot pink.’ The other, very often just ‘pink,’ is predominantly a light red. A quick and sloppy way to describe this is a light grey with a raised red component. Also, you can make hot pink without needing to use spectral violet (the ‘end’ of the spectrum) since there are combinations of blue and red that are ‘metameric,’ creating a perceptually matching response in our eyes.

matthewmacleod 6mo ago
The other, very often just ‘pink,’ is predominantly a light red. A quick and sloppy way to describe this is a light grey with a raised red component. While that’s true, it’s also still not monochromatic in the electromagnetic sense.
- antiterra 6mo ago
  Absolutely, I had that in my draft but chopped it out along with a digression into black body radiation.