Seeing Red Trivia Quiz

Answer: rage

Do you literally see red when enraged? In studies, some people do report seeing a field of red whereas others report not remembering any visual details. Most cultures associate red with aggression, passion, courage, intensity, anger and of course blood.

As the color at the nearest end of the light spectrum visible to humans, red appears closer and more noticeable than any other; thus, its use on traffic signals. Interestingly bulls, like many other animals, cannot distinguish between red and green, so the bull isn't angry at seeing red, but rather at having an object waved in its face.

Answer: cowardly

How did yellow get associated with cowardice? It's not an easy trace, but theories include the idea coming from medieval medicine theory of the "four humors" (blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile) with yellow bile being connected to whining, peevish sickness and cholera.

In France, traitors' houses were marked with yellow. During the Inquisition in Spain, non-believers were forced to wear yellow. Jews who supposedly "betrayed Jesus" were branded with the medieval yellow star, a barbarous tradition adopted by the Nazis. According to a 1787 entry from Grose's "Provincial Dictionary", the term "yellow belly" was applied to people from the Fens in Lincolnshire, UK.

It was mildly derogatory and probably based on their sickly pallor from living in a swampy area. On the other hand, yellow can be associated with sunshine and a light, airy, upbeat mood.

In truth, the genesis of many of these color associations is obscure.

Answer: black

A black mood, like a blue mood, could be characterized by depression, but would likely go farther to include irritability, extreme disillusionment or anger. "A black cloud hung over them all" would indicate impending doom, for example. Black is a fascinating "color", in that it arguably isn't a color at all, but is the lack of light, or how something appears when it absorbs all light and reflects none.

Many associate black with negative characteristics, but there are also positive associations in idiom: "black gold" (oil); "in the black" (positive financial position); "black is beautiful" (1960s empowerment phrase); "black tie affair" (celebration).

Answer: he was afraid

Intense events, such as something fearful or traumatic, bring on emotional reactions and physiological changes in the body. In this case with fear, normal breathing would be temporarily suspended, muscles would momentarily tighten or "freeze" and blood would drain from the face, causing it to literally turn white(er).

This would be followed with a rush of adrenaline as the "fight or flight" instinct kicks in, and hopefully you would get into action.

Answer: pleased and entertained

Being tickled pink means to be delighted. The phrase is probably connected to the face actually being flushed with pleasure and appearing pinkish in color. It appears in print at least as early as 1910 in the Illinois newspaper "The Daily Review": "Grover Laudermilk was tickled pink over Kinsella's move in buying him from St. Louis."

Answer: embarrassed

The common emotion of embarrassment, experienced by every human being in every culture, comes from a self-conscious awareness of having made a mistake, broken some social code, being singled out, or being called for behavior deemed abnormal, different or wrong by someone or by oneself.

The physiological reaction of blood rushing to the face, of course, does literally redden the facial appearance, most visibly, but not exclusively, among lighter skinned peoples. Other conditions such as anger or exertion can also trigger the "red-faced" reaction.

Answer: sad and lonely

Blue generally has positive associations for people, but too much blue is a downer, especially in the west and especially relating to music. "Having the blues" is widely understood as a feeling of melancholy, sadness or depression. "The blues" as a music form arose from the experience of black slaves in the American south in the 19th century.

It migrated with them into the northern urban areas in the early 20th century and remains a popular and creative genre for musicians of diverse backgrounds and one of the most powerful forces in music.

Answer: envy

As with yellow, in ancient times green was associated with sickness because of skin color. Also before germ theory was understood and before antiseptics, wounds easily became infected and festering (gangrene), with an actual greenish tinge. Only in modern times has green been seen as healthy, environmentally positive and balanced. Envy is often lumped in with jealousy. Iago's famous warning in Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" sums it up: "Oh beware, my lord, of jealousy.

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock."

Answer: rose

To see things through rose colored glasses is to see things, unrealistically, as better than they are. Example: "I thought the price of gold would continue to rise forever, but I was looking through rose colored glasses, and I lost money when it tanked." If you're looking for an obscure derivation, try this: In the early 1900s, certain companies in the United States and probably elsewhere widely marketed chicken eyeglasses, designed to stop aggression and cannibalism among tightly confined chickens.

It was thought that tinting these "bird specs" rose colored made it harder or impossible for the chickens to recognize blood on other fowl, and thus they wouldn't attack each other. Sometimes these glasses would be permanently attached by piercing their beaks. Today, a much more widely practiced, but equally barbaric, method is used to regulate chicken aggression. Newborn chicks have the front part of their beaks burned off or lopped off by machine. Perhaps it's time to stop viewing the farm industry through rose colored glasses.

Answer: in a gentle, teasing way, you are a wimp or a softie

Like "savoir faire" (know-how) and many other French expressions, getting the exact flavor into English can be subtly difficult. The gentle tease implied with "mauviette" is close to wimp, wuss, softie, scaredy-cat or a few others, but it's somehow less of an insult, as if you know they really aren't scared, they are just acting that way.

It's often used on younger children by older siblings in France. It's mildly pejorative, but not too insulting.