The Democratic Chaos of Language vs. the Curated Precision of Science

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

You know, I’ll never forget many years ago, flipping through a print edition of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, when my eyes fell on the entry for the term geranium lake. Have you ever heard that? Geranium lake? Who is she when she’s at home?

Yeah, I was thinking, what in the world? I have to see what this means. And the dictionary said that geranium lake is a vivid red that is lighter and slightly yellower and stronger than apple red, yellower, lighter and stronger than carmine, and bluer, lighter and stronger than scarlet, also called spark.

Wow, there’s a lot to chew on there. I think I better just go to the paint store to figure that one out.

But wait, there’s more. Below that, there was an entry for geranium red, which was said to have several characteristics, including being slightly lighter than Goya.

Wow. Whoever wrote those definitions had a great day. I don’t know that they’re doing the dictionary user much service, though, Martha. Where are you going with this?

Well, that’s what I was thinking. You know, how in the world is this useful? Well, I finally got some answers this week, thanks to a new book by Corey Stamper. It’s called True Color, The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color from Azure to Zinc Pink.

Now, Grant, there is a lot of history packed into this book, as you know, because in the early 20th century, as Americans were moving into a world of mass production, color had to be something that you could specify on paper and reproduce in a factory or rely on in a lab or a supply chain.

For example, pharmacists needed to be able to distinguish between similarly colored powders and potions, and the military needed standard colors for its equipment. And in the meantime, the science of what’s called colorimetry, or the practice of determining and specifying colors, was becoming ever more sophisticated.

So these poor lexicographers were tasked with defining color for the dictionary, and that left them wrestling with what seemed like these powerful opposing forces, what Stamper calls the democratic chaos of language and the curated precision of science.

So her book is a very deep dive into all of that struggle, along with a lot of the personalities involved, many of whom you’ll find are quite colorful themselves. Corey Stamper, that’s K-O-R-Y-S-T-A-M-P-E-R.

Corey Stamper is the author of True Color, and I know that she is a charming and funny writer because I’ve read some of the book myself. We’ll link to it on the website at waywordradio.org.

Martha, and I would love to hear what you’re reading and you think we should read too. Call or text toll-free 877-929-9673 or email words@waywordradio.org.