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A Couple of Story Issues (possible spoiler alert)

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

I know it might look as though I'm getting the SOL brains trust to write my story for me, but I have a couple of niggling issues I feel I haven't got quite right and I'd appreciate your help.

1) A female character's favourite colour is a darkish shade of green. Her prom dress and vehicle are both that colour. I've been unable to find a suitable shade of green with a positive-sounding name. My current placeholder is 'Forest Green', but too many readers would probably have to look it up. (British Racing Green is too dark.)

2) A pre-photography newspaper has a hand-drawn picture of someone with a caption underneath in very ornate script that foils a modern text-recognition programme. I'm stumped on an appropriate technical term for the ornate script. I have no expertise in calligraphy and fonts etc.

Thanks,

AJ

Ross at Play ๐Ÿšซ

Emerald green.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Ross at Play

Emerald green.

My muse says thank you, but it's too pale :(

AJ

Replies:   robberhands
robberhands ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

My muse says thank you, but it's too pale :(

Actually, that's wrong. The color emerald isn't pale as the eponymous gem leads to assume; it's a quite dark shade of green. So I definetely would go with Ross' suggestion, given your intention.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@robberhands

Now I'm really confused. Wikipedia's (spit) idea of Emerald is a medium green, but I googled for images of Emerald Green dresses and they're generally about the right shade - one or two are even a little too dark.

Would anybody hate me if I marked down Emerald green because it's such a cliche?

AJ

Ross at Play ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Would anybody hate me if I marked down Emerald green because it's such a cliche?

... not because of the cliche. :-)

Replies:   robberhands
robberhands ๐Ÿšซ

@Ross at Play

I know the phrase 'backhand compliment'; is there also a term or phrase for 'backhand reprieve'?

Replies:   Ross at Play
Ross at Play ๐Ÿšซ

@robberhands

I know the phrase 'backhand compliment'; is there also a term or phrase for 'backhand reprieve'?

Not that I know of. The closest expressions I can think of are 'spin' or 'worm'.

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Now I'm really confused. Wikipedia's (spit) idea of Emerald is a medium green, but I googled for images of Emerald Green dresses and they're generally about the right shade - one or two are even a little too dark.

You can't base your choice of colors on their names, you need to consult a reliable color chart, and Wikipedia doesn't include any. The color list of choice is Pantera's. Again, that's what designers and photographers use to calibrate their displays and images to ensure the colors are accurate. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an online website listing the Pantera colors. Your best bet, if you have access, is to examine Photoshops list of Pantera colors (a smaller subset, as their colors list is HUGE!)

Ross at Play ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Now I'm really confused. Wikipedia's (spit) idea of Emerald is a medium green, but I googled for images of Emerald Green dresses and they're generally about the right shade - one or two are even a little too dark.

As a sometimes artist, the things that characterise Emerald Green are:
- it is a pure secondary colour with a mixture of blue and yellow, but no red
- it is towards the blue end of the spectrum of green colours
The amount of white may vary, but the examples shown in Wiki have more than I'd expect to find in a tube of artists paints.

Perhaps you could call the colour 'rat poison green'. Cezanne and Van Gogh used a colour called Emerald Green with a pigment containing arsenic that was also used as rat poison. These days the main components are Phthalo Green and Titanium White.

Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

1) Maybe this will help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green

2) have no idea

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

1) Maybe this will help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green

Thanks. In my original searching I found a different Wikipedia (spit) page devoted to green but this one seems more useful. Both Shamrock Green and Sea Green strike me as possibles. Would you consider either of those shades to be an attractive-sounding dress colour?

AJ

PS - that's just made me think of 'Pea Green', as in The Owl and the Pussycat. Some brilliant parallels with my story characters there, but there's no definition of 'Pea Green' and google images are all over the place, although mostly too pale. Drat!

sejintenej ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

but there's no definition of 'Pea Green'

just get some fresh garden peas. Some frozen ones have the colour but many fade with the cold

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@sejintenej

After I eat lots of offal and my system flushes out the excess B vitamins, I get pee green. Is that close?

AJ

Replies:   sejintenej
sejintenej ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

After I eat lots of offal and my system flushes out the excess B vitamins, I get pee green.

You think you have problems? One evening my pee was a deep solid red. Now, I have to watch my pee and more seriously phlegm in case they go green in which case it means the old steroids come out. Red pee - I had been eating beetroot

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@sejintenej

Red pee - I had been eating beetroot

A well known side-effect. Still, it's better than the alternative - being a werewolf (allegedly).

AJ

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@sejintenej

You think you have problems? One evening my pee was a deep solid red. Now, I have to watch my pee and more seriously phlegm in case they go green in which case it means the old steroids come out. Red pee - I had been eating beetroot

That's nice, but we need to know the precise Pantone color numeric for your red pee (what a great Sword & Sorcery name: Red Pee!). Though still a child, he's much scarier than his cousin, Sweet Pee.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

Not as scary as the ruler of the universe - entro pee.

AJ

Replies:   Vincent Berg
Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

What a dramatic story climax: The entrance of Entro Pee!

However it raises a question, does Entro Pee ever actually change (i.e. move)?

Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

attractive-sounding dress colour

For that, Sea Green sounds the most attractive, although I don't see the sea as dark green.

Emerald Green also sounds attractive.

I have no idea what the color Shamrock Green represents other than green. I thought a shamrock could be any shade of green as long as it's green.

Forest Green sounds good to me.

Army Green is a dark green, but not attractive.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

Thanks.

My choice is currently between Sea Green and Forest Green.

AJ

Replies:   Switch Blayde
Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

My choice is currently between Sea Green and Forest Green.

I don't think Sea Green is a dark green.

Definition of sea green

1 :a moderate green or bluish green
2 :a moderate yellow green

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

Not really dark, but Wikipedia (spit) rates it as darker than Emerald Green (unless I'm going colourblind) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Sea_green
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Emerald

AJ

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

For that, Sea Green sounds the most attractive, although I don't see the sea as dark green.

Emerald Green also sounds attractive.

I have no idea what the color Shamrock Green represents other than green. I thought a shamrock could be any shade of green as long as it's green.

Forest Green sounds good to me.

Army Green is a dark green, but not attractive.

Sea Green is a dark blue/green combination.

Emerald Green is a dark green.

Shamrock Green is a light green (the color of four-leaf clovers). It's actually more of a neon-green in most uses. Unless your character is Irish, I'd avoid it, as the name leads readers to make unwanted associations.

Forest Green is a semi-darker woodland green, darker and not as washed out as army green.

Army Green, the color on those god awful army splotchy computerized uniforms, is a paler, washed out green. Unfortunately, it too has many associations, so unless your character is in ROTC, I'd avoid it like the plague, otherwise everyone will wonder whether she's butch.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

Army Green, the color on those god awful army splotchy computerized uniforms

No, Army green is the color the US Army paints most of it's vehicles.

Capt. Zapp ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Sea Green

Not to be confused with seafoam green

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Capt. Zapp

Not to be confused with seafoam green

Which, from someone who lives on the beach and sees sea-foam froth with most major hurricanes, isn't terribly green. It's more a slightly greenish (from the cast of the water underneath) white, though you'll often see it as a light green (which looks nothing like foam at all).

Replies:   Capt. Zapp
Capt. Zapp ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

... isn't terribly green. It's more a slightly greenish ... white...

I agree. My first experience with mass use of the color was during my time in the USAF. For some reason they liked painting the interiors of fire-fighting vehicles that color.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Capt. Zapp

Not to be confused with seafoam green

Nor seasick green, which isn't even green :(

AJ

Replies:   Capt. Zapp
Capt. Zapp ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Nor seasick green, which isn't even green :(

That depends on what you had to eat beforehand. :(

robberhands ๐Ÿšซ

Funnily enough, in the last chapter I posted of my current story I had a princess describe the color of uniforms to a warrioress. So I dedicate my comment to all the colorblind like me: "Who the fuck cares? It's green!"

Replies:   StarFleet Carl
StarFleet Carl ๐Ÿšซ

@robberhands

So I dedicate my comment to all the colorblind like me: "Who the fuck cares? It's green!"

You mean white?

Point of explanation for those in other areas of the world - in the U.S., traffic lights are typically red on top (meaning stop), yellow in the middle (meaning slow down, but really meaning floor it, I can make it), and green on the bottom (meaning go). If the signal is laying horizontally, then green is to the right.

Except that the green light is white to me, not green. And I have serious issues with flashing yellow or flashing red lights, such that I can't tell the difference. (So I'm glad they've gone to blue for police.)

What makes it interesting for me is it's actual wavelengths of generated lights that I have trouble with, such as putting a light source behind and shining it through a glass filter - NOT reflected wavelengths from a color swatch on a piece of paper. So in the drivers manual I can see red and green - but on the traffic light it's brown and white.

Oh, and on the second point, most standard OCR software actually needs relatively clean print, anyway. I can use something like Dahling script, which is very ornate, and while we humans can pretty much read it, OCR software can pick out only about half of the characters when I scan it back in. If it was an actual handwritten caption, you could have your character say, "Well, that's close to a Dahling ssi script, but with the variations, I can see why the computer missed it."

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@StarFleet Carl

I can use something like Dahling script, which is very ornate,

That's pretty much how I imagined it would look. Now all I need is a name that won't eject readers from the story!

Thank you,

AJ

richardshagrin ๐Ÿšซ

Army green

The color army green has been used in militaries since at least World War II, and possibly before, though the precise tint varies considerably between and within different nations. (See olive drab and olive green)

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@richardshagrin

Army green

I think that lacks the positive vibe for an attractive prom dress, but thanks for the suggestion.

AJ

Ross at Play ๐Ÿšซ

Hooker's green?

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@Ross at Play

She floated onto the dance floor in a beautiful Hooker's green dress.

I wish you'd use smileys :(

AJ

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Hooker

And in one of those serendipitous coincidences, mere inches away from me is my seed-grown Calibanus hookeri, also named after William Hooker.

AJ

Ernest Bywater ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

A female character's favourite colour is a darkish shade of green.

Emerald green or Lincoln Green may do, depending on the shade you want. However, if the character is from Ireland or spends time there you may wish to use Shamrock Green - not sure what the difference is, but I've seen it on a dark green cloth in haberdashery shops.

I use this list as a good starting point for colours - more list links at the bottom of the page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors:_A%E2%80%93F

Replies:   Vincent Berg
Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Ernest Bywater

There's an 'official' color list used by photographers, but I can't recall the name offhand (it's how photographers and designers color calibrate their images). However, while that's precise, the names are not as commonly recognized. I recommend the following: The Color Thesaurus for Writers and Designers. It's a Pinterest page, but it shows up in most browsers without any trouble.

I also echo the calls for "Forest Green", as it's a generally recognizable color (what color do you see when you walk into a forest?), and it's in the correct color range.

Geek of Ages

"Forest green" sounds perfectly fine to me. I've used it as a color name since I was a child.

Capt. Zapp ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

One place you might look is a color chart for cross-stitch floss. Here is a link to the DMC company's colors/names

http://www.camelia.sk/dmc_1.htm

robberhands ๐Ÿšซ

I see; you want a positive color name for a dark shade of green, which your readers will recognize but it shouldn't be a cliche ... You definitely have the right attitude to choose a dress for your prom queen character.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@robberhands

Thank you.

prom queen

No comment ;)

AJ

Ernest Bywater ๐Ÿšซ

In the traditional Robin Hood stories he and his men wore clothes made from cloth dyed in Lincoln Green so they could blend in with the forest better. At that time in history Lincoln Green was the best green cloth in England. I would envision it as being something like Forest Green or Hunter Green (which is a little darker than forest green and not as bright as Forest Green). I suspect Lincoln Green was a forerunner of Forest Green. Lincoln Green is the hex colour #195905 while Forest Green is the hex colour #014421 for Traditional Forest Green and #228B22 for Web Forest Green.

However, looking at the colours on the charts and list on wikipedia I think the one that's most universal for a nice dark green dress, other than Dark Green itself, is Forest Green.

Just found Royal Green hex colour #136207 looks very nice and sounds impressive.

Geek of Ages

Color is hard.

helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

Has anyone mentioned bottle green or russian green?

Both are dark greens.

HM.

BTW, the russian green shown by Wikipedia is too dull.
Where did Wikipedia get the numeric values (rgb, ...) for the various color names?

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@helmut_meukel

russian green?

I thought Russians were red.

Replies:   helmut_meukel
helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Go back in history, in tsarist times they liked dark green.
That probably caused the Bolshewiki to use red as their color.

HM.

helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

@helmut_meukel

A green Russian court dress, circa 1900s:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/af/94/06/af940686fd601eb418011eb0e5fc1c77--russian-fashion-russian-style.jpg

another Russian court dress:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/31/86/79/318679dd526cd842eec0b35f059c6b00--historical-dress-historical-costume.jpg

HM.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

Another source for finding color names: https://www.pantone.com/color-finder

Replies:   Vincent Berg
Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Another source for finding color names: https://www.pantone.com/color-finder

Pantone also sells 'calibrators', which also (supposedly) identify specific colors. However, they're prohibitively expensive for any non-professional. Their color names, though, are hardly the stuff of literary value!

Geek of Ages

Reminder: people have different monitors, and therefore the same color looks different to different people. Even little things like the brightness matter in these regards.

Centaur ๐Ÿšซ

@awnlee jawking

Forest green

34,139,34

sorry couldn't help it

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

From the current random story, Another Amber by Uncle Jim:

'The skirt was a forest green'

If an author like Uncle Jim is comfortable with it, it's good enough for me.

AJ

madnige ๐Ÿšซ

Another non-Wikipedia green is Buckingham Green, the colour of the door I will be exiting via in just a few minutes.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@madnige

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7-mBJjP3-E

AJ

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

Do you mean "car" by "vehicle"?

Close enough, it's a small 4x4 vehicle. I'd call it a jeep but the US terminology might differ because they have real jeeps ;)

AJ

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

I wasn't aware that a 4x4 is excluded from the definition of "car"

Well, until relatively recently, most 4x4s are considered trucks under government vehicle regulations.

The bulk of 4x4 production vehicles are pickup trucks or SUVs.

The In the beginning, SUVs started out as fully enclosed vehicles built on a pickup truck chassis.

Many states license even full size SUVs as cars rather than trucks, but they are or at least used to be considered trucks for the purpose of federal emissions and fuel efficiency standards.

However, the newer category of cross-over SUVs are SUV body styles on a car chassis. And while most are FWD, there are 4WD vehicles in that category.

On the other end of the scale, I have heard quad ATVs referred to a 4x4s.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

A bit difficult to find a named color

On the left side there is a color rainbow and a lightness/darkness slider.

Select a point in the rainbow, adjust the slider to get the exact shade you want and hit the submit button. The Fashion and Interior Designer results section will have color names for the closest matching colors to your selection.

richardshagrin ๐Ÿšซ

Only if she is very tall, and likes vegetables. Ho, Ho, Ho, Jolly Green Giant.

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