Color Me Adjectival and Presidential

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name is Jeffrey, calling from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hi, Jeffrey. We’re glad you called. What’s up?

I guess the reason why I’m calling today is because there’s a phrase that I’ve been using for many, many years.

And I’m not really sure if it’s if there’s an origin to it.

And if there is, am I using it differently than other people do?

The phrase is color me surprised.

And how do you use it?

I usually use it almost sarcastically.

One of the places I work is at a bar, right?

And so we have some regulars coming in and, you know, I’ll get a text from one of the other bartenders and they’ll be like, oh, Joe’s been here since two o’clock.

And I’ll be like, oh, well, color me surprised.

I mean, you would expect that of Joe.

That’s just how Joe is.

Exactly.

Joe is somebody that I would expect being there from, you know, two to six.

Gotcha.

And so your question is, where did you get that?

What is that construction about color me surprised?

Exactly.

I don’t remember anybody in my family really using it, so I’m not sure where I picked it up from.

And I tried doing a little bit of research online.

I didn’t get much information, but what I did find is it doesn’t look like anybody else really uses it in the same sarcastic sense that I do.

Yeah, but just about anything can be made sarcastic.

That’s the nature of English.

Just about anything like earnest can become sarcastic on the flip of a tone.

Yes.

But Jeffrey, there is a history to this, and it’s wider and bigger than you.

Your version, color me surprised, is noteworthy for having surprised is the adjective there.

But the color me whatever, color me any adjective, is deeper and longer than that.

It actually connects to John F. Kennedy, believe it or not.

Really?

As far back as the 1920s, when you would open up a coloring book for kids, it would have instructions on how to color the images.

I might say color me brown for the dog or, you know, color me blue for the sky.

Just to let the kids know what’s supposed to happen here so that you could get the desired results.

Your coloring would turn out.

But in 1962, something called the JFK Coloring Book was published.

And it was a huge bestseller.

I mean, enormous bestseller.

And it’s at least until JFK’s assassination.

And there are images you can find online.

And it was a satirical book.

So it was gently mocking the family that was now in the White House.

And so there are different images that are captioned, things like, this is my daddy.

He has a good job.

And it’s a picture of JFK, of course.

He works for the government.

Color him red, white, and blue.

Or this is my mommy showing, you know, Jackie.

She is very beautiful.

She is the most beautiful mommy ever.

Color her beautiful.

And so this book caught the attention of the public and really kind of caught its fancy.

And that phrasing of color me whatever came out of that.

Of course, once the assassination happened, the coloring book didn’t really sell anymore, but it was already entrenched in the language.

Really?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it kind of started as being a bit wry from the get-go.

Like from the very start, it was just this little gentle irony and jokiness about coloring books.

Because the idea that you would have a coloring book about the first family is unusual to start with.

But then they borrowed the language that was already out there to make it even more a little jokey piece.

Huh.

I didn’t even know such a coloring book existed.

So now I’m just curious how maybe it would have come into my lexicon.

Well, the color me whatever is out there.

It’s a part of, and I can’t say it’s that common, but you can find a zillion examples in print and speech and transcripts of television shows, whether they’re scripted or unscripted.

It’s just a part of the American language now.

I do use it the way that you use it, though, Jeffrey.

Color me surprised means I’m not surprised at all, you know?

Exactly.

That’s how I always meant it as.

Oh, well, thank you so much.

That’s all the mystery I’ve had for many, many years.

Yeah, Google it.

Google the 1962 JFK coloring book, and you will find images out there.

I think they go for a fair penny on eBay, but you can at least see some images of it.

And you’re supposed to color the president red, white, and blue?

He was a patriot.

That’s why I’ve caught people’s fancy, because it was just a teasing document from another era.

We don’t tease with that gentleness quite as much anymore.

But thank you, Jeffrey, for your call.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Take care of yourself.

Good talking with you, Jeffrey.

Bye-bye.

Well, color us happy if you give us a call, 877-929-9673.