I thought blue always meant blue. No, I didn't. It started out as meaning "yellow" and evolved into "white" and hence in Old English to “pale” and “the colour of bruised skin”. It was actually re-borrowed in its modern sense from French.
Some didn't even have a proper word for blue. Ancient Greeks for example. Poor Homer had to call the colour of the sea "Wine Coloured" ;)
Why do we sometimes feel blue? Because of Zeus! Blue was related to rain or storms, and Zeus would make rain when he was sad or crying, and a storm when he was angry.
What about the Blue Moon? It used to have a meaning of something that was absurd. The origin of Blue Moon is steeped in folklore and it suggests something that, in fact, never happens, as in this pamphlet from 1528:
Yf they say the mone is blewe,
We must beleve that it is true.
A kind of "at the Greek calends" :)) Anyway, good news: It used to be "never", and today it is "very rarely"! Impossible things do happen!
Oh, I nearly forgot... It also has a meaning bordering on indelicacy: blue as "obscene, indecent" (and therefore a blue joke, a blue movie, a secret stash of blue mags even); it is recorded from the 19th century, and the sense connection is unclear... I am very curious, but nowdays much etymological research is done ;) I might even give a hand one day...
Still many interesting things to be said about blue, but I'll be back!
3 comments:
Hi,
This was from a post of mine from a blog of mine. Both long lost.
Some creative writing. My first real attempt at a more narrative style.
"Blue"
The room is dark, too dark. She hardly sees him as she comes in. The room is dark, the lights are turned off. He is sitting on a couch, maybe a sofa, at the opposite side of the room. In the corner next to him is an old lava lamp, its blue light paints his profile. She walks in and moves to the middle of the room, she pauses. She knows what to say, she knows how to say it, every word memorized. She begins to speak but says nothing. She cant think, she cant move.
She bites her lower lip, eyebrows raise. She tries to speak, she knows what to say, knows how to say it, every word memorized. Eyebrows drop, her eyes close and with a solemn voice says.
"I'm sorry."
He turns towards the lamp, the blue light now swallows his face, every detail blue. She can tell he's been crying. The dried streaks cover his cheeks like bad memories that wont go away. Bad memories. They wont go away. He turns to her, voice deep, broken but stern.
"I know."
The room is dark, too dark. She cant see his face now, just a profile. She wants him to yell at her, to tell her how wrong she was. Maybe he will forgive her, maybe all this is a bad dream. Maybe its the blue. Something, say something. Dont just sit there in the blue.
She is in the middle of the room, old keys in hand. She wont need those anymore. She wont come back here again. This time she doesn't pause, she walks up, drops the keys next to the lamp, kneels down, kisses him...
"I'm so sorry"
His eyes dry. They look at her from the blue.
"I know."
The End
What do you think?
I think it's sad, and I think she's cheated on him...
I also think it's good, it's mysterious and it creates atmosphere...
I really need to find the photo that went along with this story. =)
Hey glad you liked it =).
Till next time.
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