In the pink

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  1. John F. Hultquist:

    Well, I tried to send a bit of a comment and an explanation about the “hay mow” post (Dec. 2, 2011) but it seems not to go through. So I thought I’d start at the “Home” page and find another way to contact you.

    There I find a thing about “in the pink” and within that I see a reference to “slight purple tinge.” That makes your phrase very close to “in the purple” or even “born in the purple.” This suggest you might want to look at the purple colors of the royalty of previous generations that believed the color purple was meant for them. A room with walls made of a purple rock was used as a birthing room, reserved for the Queen. So, to be “born in the purple’ would mean your mother was Queen when you were born, and, perhaps, an earlier born brother might not have been so born even though he had the same mother. That was an important distinction. The color was achieved in fabrics from use of a dye made from sea snails. Search on the phrase “Tyrian purple” for that.
    For the rock, search on “porphyry” and its historical sources and uses. Go to the Saudi Aramco World (magazine) site and in the search box type the word. There are seven results. Pick the one titled “Via Porphyrites” and find the text. At the very bottom is a link to graphics. The second article in the list (Millennia of Murex) is about the dye.

  2. Moley:

    Speaking of Dianthus, my mother once asked “What colour was that Pink?”
    It’s a self-answering question really.
    I’m making a collection of these. Other beautys include:
    How big is a 12 inch pizza?
    How many people does a 4-seater sofa seat?
    What time does the 4 o’clock train go?

  3. Moley:

    So why “pinkie” for little finger?

  4. Jethro M. Hurt:

    There is a portrait entitled “Man with a Pink” by Quentin Metsys in the Art Institute of Chicago. Of course, the “pink” is blue. Thanks for explaining.