THE DISCREPANCY // 153
Before looking at a swatch, let the word chartreuse produce its own colour. Is it sharp yellow-green, or something dark and reddish? The red or maroon recollection has circulated for years. The dictionary points toward yellow-green, leaving some readers with the unsettling feeling that a familiar colour name has been assigned to the wrong patch.
PUT THE WORD BESIDE A SWATCH
Think of a crayon, a fabric label or a description in a book. Which object taught you the colour? Choose a rough swatch before reading further. Your remembered shade may be vague around the edges while its distance from green feels completely certain.
THE NAME IN THE COLOUR REFERENCE
Merriam-Webster defines the colour in the yellow-green range. The name is also associated with Chartreuse liqueurs, including green and yellow varieties. The reported red recollection concerns the colour word itself; different screens and printing conditions can shift a swatch without turning that entire colour family into maroon.
A LABEL ON THE WRONG DRAWER
Imagine opening an old set of colours and finding chartreuse printed beside a green you would never have named that way. Would you question the label, or the lesson you remember learning? Keep your first swatch. The strange part is how confidently a word can appear to remember a different colour.
Source trail & editions
Merriam-Webster — chartreuse ↗
Dictionary colour reference: yellow-green.
Reported red recollection ↗
Documents the red/maroon versus yellow-green discrepancy.