English is blue and math is red, but I can’t exactly tell you why. The internet has seen a trend fueled by Generation Z in recent months of odd statements relating Thursday and November, or 5×5 and Friday, but the only real explanation that they offer is a similar “energy” or “vibe” that they get from the random associated items.
If so many people find themselves agreeing with such nonsensical statements, there must be some sort of explanation, right?
Chloe Pennington, a junior criminology and political science major at North Carolina State University, said that it reminded her of a video that she watched in her high school English class about synesthesia.
According to Psychology Today, synesthesia can be simply defined as a neurological condition that means “when one sense is activated, another unrelated sense is activated at the same time.” In this way, people with the condition can relate certain senses to other concepts and senses that they perceive, such as seeing colors when listening to music. Pennington said that, while some people’s experiences are much more defined than others, “everyone has it a little bit.”
While synesthesia may provide some explanation to this question, another answer may be the way in which we were raised and taught in school. In a survey of 241 people on Instagram, 93 percent said that science is green and 78 percent said that math is red. When answering these questions herself, Kate Durgin, a junior theatre studies major at Wagner College, said that she was reminded of her notebooks that she used for each subject.
She also tried to explain her answers by referring to popular phonics systems and even the fact that she is left-handed, but ultimately she said, “I think so much of it is just based on our childhood experiences and what something feels like… if you asked someone these questions who grew up with a very different education system they would probably have very different answers.”
So, there may be no definite answer for why science is green, it’s just intuition. Out of 241 people, 63 percent agreed that English is blue, but later in the survey, 68 percent said that language arts is yellow. These two subjects are arguably the same in our country’s school systems, but the majority of people surveyed said they are instinctively represented by different colors in their minds.
While these opinions may lack clear logic, an individual’s feelings are often steadfast and hard to argue. Carrington Wigfall, a sophom*ore theatre tech and design major at Winthrop University, said that “whenever it comes up, my opinions are solid. I can’t change it…someone told me once that science isn’t green and that’s impossible.”
In the midst of conducting the survey on Instagram, two people who accidentally voted for purple instead of green as relating to science were adamant enough to send a direct message and clear their name of their mistake. They couldn’t just move on and keep scrolling, they had to take time to make sure that the “right” opinion was heard.
Pennington said “I feel like everybody has a very specific view of everything in their head…the way one person might feel is completely different than the next person and…there’s no right or wrong.”
Graphic by Lizzy Talbert
FAQs
To some, English is seen as fun and happy, which allows it to be associated with yellow. Others choose blue because the color reminds them of stories they have read.
Is Ela red or blue? ›
According to the Science Survey, 54.2% say math is blue/ 41% say English is red while 25.8% say it's History. And of course, 78.5% say science is green.
What is the colour of English language? ›
Out of 241 people, 63 percent agreed that English is blue, but later in the survey, 68 percent said that language arts is yellow. These two subjects are arguably the same in our country's school systems, but the majority of people surveyed said they are instinctively represented by different colors in their minds.
Is English yellow or green? ›
However, while color associations for history widely vary, opinions for other subjects are more concise. Both math and English are mainly split between two colors: math between red and blue, and English between blue and yellow.
What are the 7 colors in English? ›
Here a complete list of the rainbow is Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
What subject is yellow? ›
And I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
math is red. social studies is yellow. science is green. writing/reading is blue.
What does red mean in ELA? ›
Color Symbolism in Literature
| Color | Possible Meanings |
|---|
| Red | Anger, passion, desire |
| Orange | Warmth, energy, vibrancy |
| Yellow | Joy, hope, cowardice |
| Green | Growth, renewal, envy |
7 more rowsNov 21, 2023
Academic Costume: Colors Associated With Fields
| Field | Color |
|---|
| Music | Pink |
| Nursing | Apricot |
| Oratory (Speech) | Silver gray |
| Pharmacy | Olive green |
21 more rowsAug 5, 2020
English has 11 basic color terms: black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, pink, purple, and gray; other languages have between 2 and 12. All other colors are considered by most speakers of that language to be variants of these basic color terms.
What is the old word for blue? ›
The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao (meaning 'shimmering, lustrous'). In heraldry, the word azure is used for blue.
Color and colour mean the same thing. However, the spelling varies depending on whether you're using UK or US English: In US English, “color” (no “u”) is the correct spelling. In UK English, “colour” (with a “u”) is standard.
What color is math and English? ›
54.2% voted that Math is BLUE, followed by 30.3% red. 41% voted that English is RED, followed by 24.7% blue. 78.5%% voted that Science is GREEN, followed by 8% yellow. 25.8% voted that Social Studies is YELLOW, followed by 20.3% purple and 19.5% orange.
What subject is red? ›
And math is considered a difficult subject for most people, so it tends to be labeled as “red.” However, the other popular opinion of math being blue is probably for those students who enjoy math or are good at it, as blue is considered a calm and soothing color.
What color is biology? ›
Green - Biology, the colour of life, chlorophyll and plants. Red - Chemistry, the color of iron rust, the color of The red is for a highly exothermic chemical reaction that starts to get hot before combustion. White -General Sciences, the combined primary colours of all other sciences RGB.
What color is the English rainbow? ›
ROYGBIV is an acronym for the sequence of hues commonly described as making up a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Is it color or colour in English? ›
In US English, 'color' (no 'u') is the correct spelling. In UK English, 'colour' (with a 'u') is standard. This regional spelling distinction carries over to other forms of the words, including 'coloring/colouring' and 'colorful/colourful'.
Is the UK English colorful or Colourful? ›
Colorful and colourful are both English terms. Colorful is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English ( en-US ) while colourful is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) ( en-GB ).
