Episode 44: What's in a Color?

In this episode, we talk all things color — personality quizzes, cultural meanings, marketing psychology, and why certain colors make us feel calm, hungry, confident, or creative. What does your favorite color say about you? 

Show Notes  

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Transcript

D:          Welcome to Coffee and Conversation for ESL Listening. I'm Donielle.

K:          And I'm Khrystyna, so grab a cup and join the conversation.

D:          Hello, it's good to see you again.

K:          Yeah, good to see you too. I feel like we’ve been trying to schedule this one and life got in the way.

D:          Man, life is just getting a little bit crazy. I mean, for so many reasons, but yeah, but it's, and it just, we're coming up on the end of the year again, and it's like, didn't we just do this?

K:          You're right, I do feel like we just had all these Thanksgivings and Christmases and New Years and holidays and breaks and no breaks and all this stuff, but yeah.

D:          Yeah, yeah. Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving? You got company coming? Are you going somewhere?

K:          We're staying in. My husband's family is coming or my in-laws. But it's just a few of us. It's really not that big of a crowd. So I'll be cooking again. And it's, I think, year 12 that I'm hosting Thanksgiving.

D:          Oh my gosh. Well, you know, the thing is, as they say, you can be a little bit “extra”. And I know because I can be a little bit extra too, meaning you just go all out. You do more than you really need to do. I know how you are. And so I can imagine this enormous Thanksgiving spread and like all this homemade deliciousness that your husband's family is like, we're not going anywhere else except for Khrystyna’s.

K:          You're too nice. But maybe one of those years you should come for Thanksgiving. I'll have plenty of vegetarian dishes. I promise. You know, the funny thing is like we do all this traditional Thanksgiving stuff because my mother-in-law, she's pretty traditional about that. And we have to cook the actual whole turkey and all the stuffings and all that stuff. She doesn't even really like turkey.

D:          You know, that's not even surprising. I hear that a lot. Like people don't even really like it, but it's because it's Thanksgiving and you have to do it, so they do it. It's like, no you don't have to actually.

K:          Right. And you know, one year we decided to kind of take it easy and just had like little, you know, turkey tenderloins or something, you know, smaller. And she she kind of tolerated that but didn't quite like it as much as traditional turkey. So, you know, that's okay.

D:          Yeah, well, you know. So you will oblige, I know.

K:          I will, I will. So what about you? What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?

D:          We've got our usual crew coming in from Illinois. 

K:          That's nice.

D:          Yeah, you know they're gonna drive down on Saturday and spend a week so that'll be nice.

K:          They're driving all the way. Wow!

D:          They always do. They're crazy. I wouldn't do it, but it's too long for me. Yeah. So, well, I guess that's enough of the chit chat. Let's get into our topic for today, which I don't know. I think it's a little bit interesting. I hope the listeners out there will find it interesting, but I don't know if it was in our last episode or one of the last couple of episodes. Somehow we got talking about colors and it's been on my to-do list of things to talk about for one of our episodes. So here we are, we're going to talk about colors today.

K:          I love colors.

D:          Yeah, you know, it's really funny because I always say I'm not an artistic person and I'm definitely not. I don't have the creativity. And it's so funny because like certain things that I do, I have to put some colors together and I can spend way too long looking and messing around, putting different colors together. And I'm like, oh I think that looks pretty good. But then I'm like, but does it? I don't even know. You know, it's just like… I don't have that eye for things, but then there are certain combinations that I think, wow, that looks so good, you know, and I'm drawn to it. And I think we all have those color combinations that we're drawn to.

K:          Yeah. I agree. I think there's and they say your personality and colors, they're connected…certain colors with certain personalities. 

D:          There is so much science into that. 

K:          I know. Isn't that crazy?

D:          Yeah. I mean, it sounds kind of weird, but when you start getting into it and you hear more about it, you're like, well, OK, that kind of makes sense. So one of the things that we did before we met today is we each took a personality test, a little quiz, and it asked you random questions about things that you like, things that you don't like, and just that you would think have nothing to do with colors. But based on the answers, it's going to tell us something about (hopefully) our personality. All right. So I'm going to start off with yours because yours was very interesting. And you are almost, almost evenly distributed among all the colors. Yeah. So we looked at red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. And your strongest color was purple. 

K:          Interesting.

D:          Yeah. Yeah. And for a minute there, well, first of all, what is your favorite color? Because I think I know.

K:          So yeah, I'm pretty sure you know because I think we share that favorite color, but I I like all the colors. I am I don't discriminate when it comes to color.

D:          Clearly because you're evenly distributed, it's really interesting looking at this map.

K            But I do gravitate to green; green is my favorite.

D:          I don't think I even knew that and I don't ever see anything green. Like you don't really wear green. I was gonna say your wall is green, okay.

K:          I do have quite a bit of green that I wear because I have green eyes and when I wear something green they really pick up that color. And it's funny how sometimes I wear something green and especially at work people would be like, your eyes are green. I'm like, well yeah, they've always been, well not always, but… So I do love green. It makes me happy.

D:          Actually, know, now that we're talking about this, kind of think we may have had this conversation before and I just sort of forgot. But in my mind, I thought you liked red so much.

K:          So it can kind of goes back to that I just enjoy colors. I like red in certain things, you know, like funny thing, I don't know if you noticed that, but every car I owned was red. 

D:          Oh yeah, I noticed.

K:           I tend to buy red cars. And there are certain things that I really enjoy seeing red.

K:          But sometimes it's like, oh no, no, no, no red - too much. So it just depends.

D:          Yeah, that's really funny. Yeah, and I guess it sort of makes sense because I was saying I can't really like say for sure what color you really, I mean except for the red, like it feels like there are a lot of different colors you like and looking at this quiz result, you know, you're evenly distributed, except purple is the most and then strangely orange was the second one.

And then everything else is pretty much even after that. So yeah, you're just a very, I think, artistic person. And like you say, you enjoy colors. Makes sense.

K:          I love colors. just, I don't know. They make me happy.

D:          Yeah, yeah, that's true. But it's so funny because you said that, you know, you like red in certain things. And of course, you probably know I can't stand the color red.

D:          It's a weird, weird thing.

K:          So, I mean, when you say you can't stand color red, does that mean you don't like, for example, like your house, you don't want to have any decorations or anything or wall colors in red? Okay. 

D:          Wall color absolutely not, never, never.

K:          What about like clothes? You don't like anything red?

D:          Okay, so one of the things I was going to say about this book is very interesting and it goes to like your zodiac signs. And so I'm a Scorpio,

K:          yes you are!

D:          And it says red is important for Scorpios. And I was like, huh? And it says, “But for them, it's darker shades of red verging into burgundy and maroon.” And that is true. If I have anything that's red, it's a very specific shade, like range of shades I should say, but yeah they would be dark but like a cherry red never.

K:          No. Okay. So now I'm curious to know what would it say for my zodiac sign? What do I gravitate to? I’m a Virgo.

D:          Yeah, I know… I didn't actually look at that. 

K:          Oh, that's okay.

D:          But, you know what, we're going to come to your birthday in a minute because we're going to talk about each of the colors a little bit. 

K:          Oh, cool. You know how they say that most of the colors… there's two categories of colors, right? There's warm colors and then there's cool colors, which is kind of interesting because when you look at colors, you don't necessarily always [say] like, no, this is a warm color or this is a cool color. ‘Cause I feel like depending on the shade of certain color, it could go either way. But they say that warm colors are the ones that have some sort of red part in their spectrum: orange, yellow, red. And they say that the warm colors could evoke some sort of emotions of warmth and comfort.

D:          Okay, makes sense.

K:          But also anger.

D:          Yes. Yes.

K:          Right? So, and you don't think of something warm and anger in the same sentence.

D:          It is true. Yeah, it is odd. But and it's funny with all of these colors, like there's this sort of idea of like opposites. Like it could be like for the red since we're talking about red. It talks about how it's like energy, boldness, you know, that kind of stuff. But then there's always danger or, know… Well, yeah, passion, right?

K:          and anger and hostility.

D:          You know, like when there's like a, you know, some kind of an emergency or danger situation, the sign will be in bright red, you know, so there's like always those kinds of opposites, which is interesting.

K:          And then when you think, you know, when you look at the stoplight, like red is supposed to like stop, you know, right? Something.

D:          Yes, to take note for sure. It's something that you're supposed to like notice right away.

K:          Right, right. So then the cool colors, which is interesting is something that has blue in their spectrum. So, you know, colors like purple, green, and usually they say that they kind of associate that with being calm or sad.

D:          Yeah, again, it's like these sorts of opposites, you know? Yeah. Well, I can tell you for sure I'm a cool color person. Yeah.

K:          Oh yeah. Well, and your favorite is green as well. As far as I remember, you always had something green.

D:          Yes, yes, it's green. I like green, but I like blues. I also like purple. Yeah. But then on the other hand, as much as I hate the color red, I really like orange. So it's weird.

K:          Isn’t orange kind of just like this really happy color? always I almost I know that there is an orange as a fruit. But every time I see orange, I do think about something sweet and fresh and kind of happy and yummy and…

D:          Well, yeah, actually, it's, you know what though? I want to go back a minute before we go to orange. OK, so before we get too much into the details of the colors, let's talk about my color results. And I was much more heavily on green. Green showed up, which it was kind of interesting because I didn't think it would be right on the money like that. But yeah, green is my favorite color and that one showed up the strongest on my little quiz. The second one was purple, which I would say is like my second favorite color, which is really weird. Red, hardly at all, which is not surprising. The one that was surprising to me is blue showed up very, very low. It was the lowest, which I like blue. So that's strange. 

K:          Yeah, interesting. Very interesting. But you almost like the Halloween colors there:  purple, green, orange.

D:          Yeah, you know what? That's true. That is really...

K:          Hmm, I wonder why? It's almost like Halloween is your favorite time of year.

D:          I know you'd almost think that, wouldn't you? That's hilarious. I never even thought of that, but that is so true. Yeah. Okay. So we talked a little bit a few minutes ago about red. Okay. So it symbolizes energy, passion, urgency, like the stop signs and emergency. Like anytime there's an emergency fire escape or something like that sign, it's always red, right? Attention getting. Appetite stimulation. And way back when, we talked about fast food restaurants and how they were many of them that were red.

K:          Yes, you're right. Because we looked at like logos and like the signs for fast food restaurants, and most of them had red color in there. 

D:          Yeah, and also yellow. 

K:          Yes, yeah, which makes sense. I mean, if it stimulates appetite, then yes, I mean, marketing gurus are working.

D:          Yeah, stimulates appetite and plus it gets your immediate attention, which is important, right? 

K:          The other side of red is also that whole romantic side, right? That red [is] associated with love and passion and excitement and all that. Yes.

D:          And Valentine's Day. 

K:          Interesting. Red is very versatile.

D:          But all these colors are. Like, it really kind of depends on context. It’s really interesting. Like it can symbolize luck and beauty, but also pain, anger, and danger. In a lot of cultures, I know, in Asian cultures and specifically the wedding gown is traditionally red, which is really interesting. We would never do that here. 

K:          That's true. That's true. So if maybe at the end we can talk more about like different countries and cultures of what they associate different colors once we go through our but there's some interesting things.

D:          Okay, yeah. Yeah, and I also have some idioms. we get to that. Okay, so well, that was Red. Yeah. Anything else interesting about red? 

K:          You know, I think when you think about food, right? Red is usually…it's more appealing to eat. But also, they use colors, especially in ancient Egypt and China. They used to use colors as, like a therapy. And they said that red is what stimulates the body and mind to increase blood circulation.

D:          Oh yeah! I forgot to say that it raises heart rate and blood pressure. Which makes sense too, because if you think of like passion and you know, like that kind of thing, this strong energy.

K:          But I wonder if there is a connection with that when they use red in those warning signs or alarm or something, because that raises up your heartbeat and stimulation, you pay more attention and you're more focused and alert. 

D:          And move, yeah. 

K:          Yeah, that makes sense.

D:          Yeah, it's really interesting.

K:          It’s all connected.

D:          It is.

K:          So, just one more – they say that colors also influence how you buy things and what you buy. So yeah, they say that red is like [a] bold attention-grabbing color, right? So, when people buy something in red, it portrays the image of power and confidence. And you would think as many red cars as I went through in my life, I would be full of power and confidence, but I'm not sure about that.

D:          Yeah, actually, it's funny that you said that, because I forgot to say that for each of these colors, there's a recommendation of what you can use it for. And that was one of them whenever you need confidence, like if you're going to give a speech, maybe a job interview or something, and you want to like, project some kind of confidence or power, wear something red. So I'll keep that in mind.

K:          Gosh, I feel like I would look like an overstuffed cherry out there standing in the…

D:          But you'll be a confident cherry. All right, let's move on to orange. Now interesting, so we had red: appetite stimulation. Not surprisingly, orange also stimulates the appetite because it's very near in the color spectrum, right?

K:          So speaking about appetite and colors, when we talk about colors, because I don't know, it pops in my head right away. Do you, sometimes when you talk about color, like you can taste it.

D:          That's so funny. No, I can't, but I know some people can. That's so weird to me.

K:          I mean, this whole time we talked about red, all I had… 

D:          What are you tasting?

K:          Strawberries.

K:          And I can literally like taste oranges right now as we started talking about orange and smell it. The association is so strong.

D:          Wow. Yeah, I guess my imagination is not that good.

K:          All right, so what do you think about orange?

D:          So okay, it also projects the idea of value. And that makes sense too. If you've ever been to a grocery store or some kind of store where they're marking something down, a discount, those stickers are very often orange. Yeah, right?

K:          Makes sense! That… you know what, I never thought of it but you're right.

D:          I didn't either, but as soon as I read that I was like, yeah, I can definitely see in my mind's eye, going to a store and seeing that orange discount sticker. So interesting how much goes into this. So it's warm and cheerful. It's linked to fun foods and playful characters. So, if you think of some characters like, you know, Tony the Tiger, people may not know what I'm talking about. 

K:          Oh yes, the cereal guy.

D:          Tigger, yeah. uh-huh. Nemo, right? The fish, Nemo. Or just, you know, happy kind of playful foods like Cheetos and like Orange Crush, you know, the soda, those kinds of things.

K:          Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Well, and they say that orange usually means warmth and kindness and joy, like happiness, joy and all that. But going back to the therapy, I could be jumping back and forth, we need therapy.

D:          Okay, because we need some therapy here.

K:          They used to say that orange used to heal the lungs and increase energy levels.

D:          Yes, that's on my list too. Not about the lungs, but the energy. Motivation, planning, productivity. Yeah. So if you find that you're like kind of stuck and you're not doing your job, maybe you're on a project and you're stuck. Yeah, like my sentence that I'm not getting it out.

K:          The juices are not flowing.  Do you need some orange? Let me go grab something orange.

D:          There's nothing orange on my desk - that explains it. thank you. More like a peach, but whatever.

K:          It is kind of like peach.

D:          But yeah, so you should have things on your desk that are orange that will help stimulate your productivity, increases oxygen to the brain and boosts creativity. Yeah.

K:          I have an orange Nerf gun over here; would you like to see that?

D:          Maybe if you hit me in head with it, it'll boost something in my brain.

K:          But I just think orange is just a happy color. You know, when you see something orange, you're like, look at that. It's so nice and bright. Right?

D:          Yeah, it really, does make me happy, honestly. Like sometimes I'll see, going back to cars, I'll see a car that's orange, which you don't see very often, and I'm just like, aw, that's fun, you know?

K:          That's true. That's true. Very cool.

D:          Yeah, I don't think I'd be buying an orange car, but you know, it's fun to look at.

K:          Yep, All right.

D:          Okay, nothing else on orange?

K:          No, I think that's all... all the symbolism I have here.

D:          Okay, so next in our spectrum would be yellow.            And this one's interesting. This one's really interesting because like how all of the colors have kind of like a positive and a negative aspect to it. This one really goes wild. Like it could just pretty much be super positive or super negative. You know, it's really interesting. But overall it can indicate enthusiasm, youthfulness and big emotions. So if you think about the traditional or the typical smiley face that's big and yellow, sunshine, and emojis were typically yellow. Yeah.

K:          Right, right. And I think it is kind of like because I mean, sun is yellow and all that, but you always kind of think of yellow, something sunny and bright. And they say that a lot of the times yellow symbolizes hope, but also danger.

D:          And yeah, and also cowardice too. Yeah, in fact, I don't want to get too much into the idioms here, but yellow is associated with being, not brave, being a coward, yeah.

K:          Yeah, that's true. My mom always said that you don't gift people yellow flowers like yellow roses because that means like saying goodbye. Have you heard of that? I thought it was interesting.

D:          Yes, yes, that's true. I thought I heard something about yellow roses were like, or something like you wouldn't give your romantic partner a yellow rose because it's like friendship or something like that. I don't really remember exactly something like that. But yeah.

K:          So I thought it was interesting. So when you think about yellow, especially if you were talking about orange cars, but you see a lot more yellow cars. And my son and I have this little game, like when I'm driving and we see yellow car, we say “slug bug”. It gets some days it gets really competitive. So I am not gonna say it but I will say it I have taken pictures of yellow cars to prove [to] my son that I saw one today to get points, so it's pretty competitive, yes.

D:          My goodness. I see.

K:          But they say that driving a yellow car might mean that you're a happy person in general and perhaps a little bit more willing than the average person to take risks.

D:          Okay. Makes sense.

K:          So, I mean, it is kind of a daring color of a car, right? 

D:          Yeah, but again, there's that lack of courage meaning that could have too. So it's really, it's just such an interesting color with the opposite ends of the spectrum. Okay. Boost clarity and alertness, but too much can cause irritation or anxiety. I was reading that in a room that has too much yellow in it, people will tend to start getting argumentative or there'll be lot of tension. You want some, but not too much yellow.

K:          Too much, which makes sense. Because when you think about using colors as therapy, yellow is thought to stimulate nerves, but also purify the body. So makes sense, right? 

D:          Right. Like overstimulation. Ah, yeah. It's really interesting.

K:          And it also depends on the shade of yellow. There's some yellows that could be very overstimulating and super bright and almost get on your nerves. And there are some yellows, kind of like muted yellows that are extremely relaxing. 

D:          Yeah, this is a very complicated color because the other thing I'm thinking about is that very few people can really look good wearing yellow.

K:          That's true.

D:          And it has to be very specific shades. And I'm sorry, I don't have that kind of talent to be able to figure out which one could possibly work on me. I don't know that any would. But yeah, but when you see a yellow on somebody and it looks good, it's like wow, it really stands out. And it looks really good. So yeah, really complicated color. Other thing, it's good for self promotion or times you want to stand out. So like again, like marketing and things like that. If you're trying to sell something, you know, yellow…

K:          Because you know, usually they say yellow like a pop of color is yellow.

D:          Yeah, well, I just thought right now when we said about the fast food logos, often they're red and yellow, right? Red for the appetite stimulation and then yellow promotion.

K:          Science!

D:          Look what we're learning.

K:          We got this. We got this. We'll figure this out by the end of the night. All right, what do you have next?

D:          Our favorite color green. I know not surprising. This is going to represent health, freshness, nature, represents growth, relaxation, serenity, but then the flip side: envy, jealousy, poison.              You think about like that poison…No, there's some some…I don't remember now.

K:          I mean, think about like they say, jealous green with envy, right? Yeah, yeah.

D:          Green with envy, I know what I was thinking of. The Wizard of Oz and those, the witch was green and what, yeah, actually there are so many characters that are green and it's really strange. To me, it feels like there's something very, very striking about them. Quite often it's a negative thing like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz, Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, the Grinch, right? 

K:          Right, he’s green.

D:          There's another one that I don't remember. Shrek. He's not really mean, but he's a little bit grumpy.

K:          That's true. But he's yeah, like at the beginning there. He's like… yeah, that makes sense.

D:          So really interesting.

K:          Frankenstein, usually. 

D:          Oh, Frankenstein, yeah! So this is a good color for brainstorming and getting fresh ideas. Promotes calm thinking. Yeah, and of course this one has a ton of idioms with it, but…

K:          Oh, yeah. They usually say you want your bedroom to be green, right? Because it's very serene. 

D:          Yes, my room is green.

K            Your room is green? This is not my bedroom, but it is green.

D:          Yeah and I didn't even select the color; that was the color that came with the house. It's green, yeah.

K:          Oh my gosh, that's so funny because this came with the house too. I did not paint this room.

D:          I'm far too lazy for any of that. I'll move before I start painting my house. We need a coat of paint? No, it's time to move.

K:          Let’s sell this house! All right, do we want to do one more?

D:          Yeah. All right. Let's just quickly talk about blue and purple because those are the last on the list. Blue is interesting. It's calm, trust, security, and appetite suppression. So if you think about it, and I can't think of any food logos that would be blue, which would make sense.

K:          That's true.

D:          You know restaurants are probably not going to be painted in blue. Yeah so that's really interesting. Trust and security. Think about banks, insurance companies. Those have a lot of blue logos.

K:          Yes, that's true. That's true. So, some other meanings for blue symbolism is wisdom. Also reason, which is kind of logic, right? Makes sense. A lot of people associate blue with relief, that feeling of relief. I thought it was interesting. Right?

D:          That's a new one for me, that's interesting, yeah.

K:          And when we go to, you know, the therapy, the color therapy, blue is believed to soothe illness and treat pain. But when you think about those blue UV lamps,

D:          Oh yeah! Interesting, yeah.

K:          They use them a lot in some sort of a treatment or therapy or something like that.

D:          Hmm. Yeah, definitely makes sense. Also, it's ideal for studying. Yeah. So if you have got a test or something, you want you want something blue around you. Wear blue. I don't know. The other thing that I was going to say is like for these colors, a lot of them are not just with the zodiac, but with specific dates. And your birth date is associated with blue. 

K:          Really?

D:          Yep. My birth date is associated with orange.

K:          Really? Interesting. Well, you know, I do like… sapphire is my favorite stone.

D:          Yeah.

D:          See, I was gonna say I also associate blue with you. 

K:          Which is so funny, huh? Well, you know what, also they say that if you have a blue car, like if you drive a blue car, it's a sign of dependability and trustworthiness. Do you have a blue car?

D:          No. My husband does.

K:          No? Well, look at that. What color is your car?

D:          White. Yeah, a lot of white cars in the south.

K:          I wonder why. Interesting.

D:          Because it's hot. So, purple: luxury, creativity, mystery, could be royalty in some places, mourning in others, bravery in the US because of the Purple Heart Medal for bravery. It's ideal for artistic work and overcoming creative blocks.

K:          I also read that purple associates with mystery, nobility and glamour, which means like luxury, right. But also, some people said that they associate purple with pleasure.

D:          Okay. Makes sense. Yeah.

K:          I thought it was interesting, right? But I feel like depending on the shade of the purple, you know, I could see how like that rich dark purple would be something luxurious and you know…

D:          Yes, exactly. You can imagine like going to a ball or something like a Mardi Gras ball and you see the beautiful like, you know, satin or velvet or something like that. Well, this was very interesting, I think. Yeah. Going back to blue really quick, I want to say I've always I associate you with red, but I also associate you with blue for some reason. And when I read about blue, it really makes sense. And I was like, this is Khrystyna to a T. Yes. 

K:          Oh my gosh. Should I be scared?

D:          No. It says, if blue is your favorite color, I know it wasn't your favorite color, but whatever. I associate you with that. If blue is your favorite color, you have hidden depth. You are both mentally and emotionally intelligent, the type of person others come to for advice knowing it will both be knowing it will be both smart and kind. And that makes sense for you.

K:          You're giving me too much credit, way too much credit. However, I do like blue. You know what? My house is blue outside of my house and it was intentional because we just got siding a couple years ago and I picked that color. So yeah, well, thank you.

D:          Okay, see? Trustworthy and... Alright. Okay, that's enough about colors. I think that was super interesting. We didn't have time to talk about idioms, so I will put some of those in the show notes because those are fun, I think.

K:          Yes, absolutely.

D:          And I think that's about it. Yes, show notes: check out those show notes, you know, follow us, review us, all that other good stuff. And until next time, here's to good coffee, good vibes and great conversations. Cheers.

K:          Cheers.