h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Pink - A Diva of a Colour - A15880151
Author: Galaxy Babe - P.S.4.S.T. - U128652

Pricilla White >> Priscilla White

had sold over 25 million albums >> *has* sold over 25 million albums

Thank you

My favourite shade is n*ppl* pink

Apparently the singer Pink acq7uired this name as she was painfully shy as a youngster and ed profusely.

I did wonder whether I should add a section on shades of pink.

I think you perhaps should, GB. It seems rather 'flimsy' at the minute. Good start, though . I'm sure we can all come some bit and bobs to add.


(btw, I hated pink (the colour) until I reach my forties...

Flimsy?

"There's no pink in the spectrum because it's not a primary colour"

Er no. Pink is a *non-spectral* colour, like purple and brown. the sensation of a spectral colour can be reproduced by stimulating the eye with a single wavelength of light. You need two or more distinct wavelengths to reproduce a non-spectral colour.

changed "not a primary colour" to "a non-spectral colour"

Nice one GB


The pig in Babe was pink ..... and there were loads of them each having learnt one trick ...... they had to be replaced regularly too because they grow so fast.

Aren't flamingoes pink because of the algae they eat. I'm not sure, but I think I heard that on QI.

Another great entry, GB

I looked up a few more - use any you think you need.

I'd mention rosé (pink) wine.

A pink or pinko is a derogatory term for a left-winger (after 'red' - communist). Richard Nixon once accused Helen Gahagan Douglas as being "pink right down to her underwear" in 1950.

You mention the Nazi pink triangle flag - wasn't it a patch, sewn on to uniforms?

(From Brewers') "In figurative usage, pink denotes the finest example of excellence, as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, ‘I am the very pink of courtesy’; from this developed 'in the pink of condition' to denote the best possible state of health and spirits."

"pink noise" is defined as a sound wave or any other time series that resembles white noise , being essentially random, but with intensity or energy in inverse proportion to frequency, and hence more energy in the bass than the treble because high-frequency sound is more energetic than low-frequency sound. The sound of a waterfall, or waves crashing on a beach, is pink noise.

Pink lady is the street name for the barbiturate secobarbital (Formula C12 H18 N2 O3 if you're interested!)

'Pink disease' is a severe illness of children of the teething age, marked by pink cold clammy hands and feet, heavy sweating, raised blood pressure, rapid pulse, and photophobia. Affected infants are very prone to secondary infection, which may be fatal. The condition may be an allergic reaction to mercury; it has virtually disappeared since all mercury-containing paediatric preparations have been banned. Medical names: acrodynia, erythroedema, erythromelalgia.

The Financial Times is printed on pink newsprint.

The bright red jackets worn by huntsmen is called pink, or 'hunting pink'. It has been suggested that huntsmen took the colour because Henry II declared foxhunting a royal sport.

To be 'tickled pink' is to be extremely amused or pleased.

A great Barbara Cartland quote: "I was shown round Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s. I saw all this wonderful pink on the walls and the artefacts. I was so impressed that I vowed to wear it for the rest of my life." (Irish Times 28 March 1998)

In the US, the 'pink slip' is the official notice that you've been fired - the equivalent of the P45 in the UK.

That'll do for now.

Icy

Back in the days when UK driving licences had a red cover, when you passed your driving test you were issued with a temporary 'pink slip' to supplement your provisional licence.

Thanks Fuzzy & Icy, I swear I can connect my whole life in two steps to Elvis and Tutankhamun and Romeo & Juliet

Oops, window open too long, thanks Maestro, I'll take your word for that - a bit before my time

You'll need to change the Pink Noise bit, as I cut and pasted that. How about:

The sound of a waterfall, or waves crashing on a beach, is described in acoustics as pink noise. The term is used for random sound having more energy in the bass (low frequencies) rather than the treble.

I don't think it justifies its own section, either.

The Pink Lady barbiturate formula should be rendered as C12H18N2O3

Icy

If you are going to define pink noise, rather than just describe what it sounds like, pink noise has equal energy for each octave in the sound spectrum, whereas white noise has equal energy for each discrete frequency.

Thus the energies in the ranges 100-200Hz, 1000-2000Hz and 10,000-20,000Hz are all equal. Since there are more discrete frequencies between 10KHz and 20KHz (10,000 of them), but only 100 of them between 100Hz and 200Hz, the effect is to 'slope' the noise in favour of lower frequencies, as the same energy is shared out between fewer of them.

Just thought you might like to know that

...oh and frequency doubles for each octave

Do you mind if I cut & paste that in?

Be my guest

Ooooh! Pink! I thought I would be inundated with it when our daughter was born - all girly clothes, toys, accessories, stationery and birthday cakes being predominantly of this hue. Our daughter hates pink. Likes lightblue. Go figure

Anyway, great entry, nothing to add, just a littel thingy for Icy: "all mercury-containing paediatric preparations have been banned" - errr, nope. not strictly true. thimersol is a mercury compound used in vaccinations so now we just inject the stuff in our kids instead...


W