Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. The English language commonly uses "blue" to refer to any colour from navy blue to cyan. The word itself is derived from the Old French word bleu.
The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from Old French bleu, bleve, blöe, a word of Germanic origin (Frankish or possibly Old High German blāo, "blue"). [And the list goes on…]
Also related is the English word blee meaning "colour, complexion." Ancient Greek lacked a word for blue, and Homer called the colour of the sea "wine dark," except that the word kyanos (cyan) was used for dark blue enamel.
As a curiosity, blue is thought to be cognate with blond, blank and black through the Germanic word. Through a Proto-Indo-European root, it is also linked with Latin flavus ("yellow"; see flavescent and flavine), with Greek phalos (white), French blanc (white, blank) (borrowed from Old Frankish), and with Russian белый, belyi ("white," see beluga), and Welsh blawr (grey) all of which derive (according to the American Heritage Dictionary) from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhel- meaning "to shine, flash or burn."
In the English language, blue may refer to the feeling of sadness. "He was feeling blue." This is because blue was related to rain or storms, and, in Greek mythology, the god Zeus would make rain when he was sad (crying), and a storm when he was angry. Kyanos was a name used in Ancient Greek to refer to dark blue tile (in English it means blue-green or cyan). [3] The phrase "feeling blue" is linked also to a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships. If the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to home port.[4]
- In the English language, blue often represents the human emotion of sadness, e.g., "He was feeling blue." In German, on the other hand, to be "blue" (blau sein) is to be drunk. This derives from the ancient use of urine (which is produced copiously by the human body after drinking alcohol) in dyeing cloth blue with woad or indigo.[5] It may also be in relation to rain, which is usually regarded as a trigger of depressive emotions.[6]
- Conversely blue, a very popular colour,[7] can represent happiness and optimism[8] as days with clearer, blue skies tend to be considered times where these emotions are more easily expressed. Many artistic contributions have been made referencing clear days with blue skies as part of the happiness or as a symbolism of the happiness the artist felt, such as Tony Bennett’s Put on a Happy Face.[9] If this were untrue there would obviously be more complaints about days with clear blue skies.
[Excerpted from Wikipedia, apart from some tinkering with punctuation.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue
Blue also carries mystical, religious, symbolic (as in symbols) and political significance, and is the national colour for numerous countries, among them but not exclusive to Scotland, Argentina, El Salvador, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Micronesia, Nicaragua, and Somalia. Further, the United Nations uses a light shade of blue, symbolizing peace.
According to http://www.precisionintermedia.com/color.html and their psychology of colour, here is what Blue represents:
“Ask people their favorite color and a clear majority will say blue. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the color blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming. … Many bedrooms are blue because it's calm, restful color. Over the ages blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty. … People tend to be more productive in a blue room because they are calm and focused on the task at hand. Some studies are showing that weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym - in fact, nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings.”
So you see, blue is everywhere and, according to most of what I’ve read today, blue ought to be everywhere.
But far more important to me than any of these descriptions, etymologies or interpretations is the fact that Blue is the name of my grandson, and today, ladies and gentleman, is his first birthday.
Now, I am no dictionary, but if you were to ask me to define Blue, this is what I’d say: adaptable, adorable, affectionate, comical, curious, delightful, determined, eager, enchanting, endearing, energetic, good-natured, happy, healthy, huggable, husky-toned, resilient, smart, squeezable, strong, sturdy, sweet, tenacious and downright wonderful.
Frankly, if there weren’t so many weirdoes out there, I’d put up a picture of him for you to see. Mind you, he is so absolutely gorgeous that, were I to do that, you probably wouldn’t get much work done. You’d spend your entire day gazing into the blue blue blue eyes, as fortune would have it, of this darling baby boy…wishing he were yours.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLUE. Today, you are one.
Love, Grammie and Gramps XO
