What’s in a Name: Paint Colors

Over the years, I’ve done my share of shopping for paint to apply to the walls of my house and cabin. The names some paint manufacturers assign to their colors have often impressed me on a scale that ranges from amusing to baffling. My small bathroom, for example, is colored “Navajo White,” a white that aspires, at some level, to become yellow. Somewhere along the line, I recall purchasing “Distant Thunder,” a shade we simply called gray when first learning the names of things.

Following are a few more paint colors for you to consider:

• Dead Salmon – A dusty pinkish-brown shade from Farrow & Ball, supposedly named after a historic painting technique rather than an expired fish.
• Elephant’s Breath – A warm gray with a hint of lilac, also from Farrow & Ball, with a name that sparks more curiosity than clarity.
• Arsenic – A strikingly bright green from Farrow & Ball, named after the poisonous compound historically used in pigments.
• Drunk Tank Pink – A vivid bubblegum pink, named for its supposed calming effect on aggressive individuals in holding cells.
• Smoky Monkey – A moody, charcoal-gray shade with a somewhat playful name.

Dead Salmon

—Mitchell Hegman