How come we have a common name for light red and light black?

Eg pink and grey in the English language, yet all the other main colours don't? Or is it just that my brain isn't functioning this afternoon and I can't think of any?

How come we have a common name for light red and light black?
I understand perfectly well what you're saying. I've always wondered about pink. I hadn't thought about grey, though.





Yes, some light colors may have other names like the ones some people wrote here but saying 'light green' or 'light blue' will always be right, whereas 'light red' or 'light black' is NEVER said.





I think it doesn't only happen in English..





A star for you..:-)
Reply:Quite a few colours are used with "pale" as well as "light", but violet and white is "mauve". Pale blue is "azure". Light brown is "auburn", "ecru ","beige", "barley" or "gossamer". Light yellow can be "lemon" ,"primrose","straw" or "cream". It often depends on the intensity of the shade.


You might be interested in reading about colours in the following article which gives the reasons why colours in English have the names which they have.


http://www.chromophilia.eu/?p=103
Reply:Light orange = apricot or peach


Light Green = mint


Light Purple = Lilac


Light brown = beige


Light Yellow = lemon
Reply:Purple -- mauve


Orange -- peach


Green -- eau de nil


Yellow -- lemon, cream


For blue we have both indigo and blue in the spectrum, the latter being a lighter form of the former.





We in fact have a dazzling array of words to describe colour in the English language -- something which we have in common with other European languages.
Reply:I think it's the latter.
Reply:I can't think of any either - too complicated for a thursday afternoon when its only a couple of hours til work finishes and the drinking starts!
Reply:The same reason we have a name for yellow mixed with blue-green. Pink and red, grey and black are different things as they are the colours mixed with white-which is also a colour.
Reply:In both cases the amount of white would determine the shade.
Reply:I'm not sure about the pink thing - your right - baby blue is the closest i can think of





By the way Black Grey and White are not colours - they are shades - its a different thing
Reply:Do we, I did not know that, tell me if you know. In my opinion red in all shades as black, are red and black. I think that is a matter of opinion. You must be some kind of an artist? Or am I missing something here with the colours, obviously? Or is this a riddle???
Reply:When we say red or black - we assume them as a medium shade so we say light or dark if we want to say other than that. Maybe crimson or scarlet is a particular shade of red.