Words About Crayons, Redux
August 3rd, 2008
It’s always nice to see old words repurposed as new words.
Such is the case with this Mental Floss article I wrote about the different crayons that Crayola removed from the world due to political and racial scuttlebuts.
Great article. I always skim through Mental Floss and Wired ath the bookstore just to see if there are any articles by the amazing Pauly D. I hadn’t seen this one yet.
I noticed in the new crayons I bought my kids the other day that there is a color called Best Friend. What color do you think of when you hear BEST FRIEND?
Comment by Jacqueline — August 4, 2008 @ 4:15 am
PS…
scut·tle·butt (skŭt’l-bŭt’)
n.
Slang Gossip; rumor.
Nautical
A drinking fountain on a ship.
A cask on a ship used to hold the day’s supply of drinking water
Comment by Jacqueline — August 4, 2008 @ 4:23 am
I think maybe Jacqueline is schoolin’ you, Paul. How does that make you feel? In crayon terms what color do you feel right now? What color do you feel Jacqueline is?
Do you know they sell washable crayons now? Crayola foolishly conning kids into thinking there is NO mistake that is permanent.
Comment by Jerry — August 4, 2008 @ 6:34 am
Jerry - I don’t know about you, but I suspect Jacque has never heard of the political and racial drinking fountains that caused crayola to change the names of their crayons.
It was a total nightmare that we must never forget.
Comment by Pauly D — August 4, 2008 @ 9:22 am
stop talking about me like I’m not even here!!!!! (runs off sobbing like a whiny scuttlebutt)….
Comment by Jacqueline — August 4, 2008 @ 10:37 am
The crayon names are totally out of control, and I don’t mean in a good way.
Comment by Eric — August 4, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
There are still so many “incorrect” crayons in the box. Why don’t they remove “Big Head Blue” or “Mayonaise-O-Phobe Mauve”?
Comment by Susan — August 7, 2008 @ 6:02 pm
Too much emphasis is put on the names of crayons. What’s the point? The kids who love crayons most can’t read yet, so it’s not like they know what the names say. And even if they did, what kid knows how to pronounce cerulean?
“Can I borrow your cer . . . um your . . . c . . . your blue crayon? No, not that blue. The other blue. No, not the dark blue. That blue.”
Comment by Stacey — August 10, 2008 @ 12:01 pm