Make sure to get your copy of True Color and catch Kory Stamper on tour: https://korystamper.com/true-color/
#ThatWordChat

What was the most fun discovery while researching the book? For Stamper, it was tracking down an almost invisible figure, a person with “no footprint in the archive.” Years of searching led to a breakthrough. #ThatWordChat

During the writing process, a gap became clear: scientific description versus how people actually understand color. “This is not how people think of color.” So she leans into that tension, breaking down how a reader would stumble through those definitions. #ThatWordChat

What was the most fun part of writing True Color? Stamper admits she had moments of hesitation. “Am I being too me?” She debated a more academic tone, but she leaned into her voice. “I gotta be me.” #ThatWordChat

“Think of teal… think of a duck… smash those together... A dark greenish blue that is bluer and duller than average teal, averaging teal blue drake or duckling.” #ThatWordChat

Favorite color and favorite color definitions? “I have multiple favorite colors… and they shift.” Current favorites: Purple, deep oranges, and deep blue-greens. But her favorite definition is something else entirely: Teal duck. #ThatWordChat

Some experiences, like color blindness, can be explained biologically, while others, like synesthesia, are much harder to define. “How do you translate the color that your brain produces into an actual color?” #ThatWordChat

Color is not just light hitting the eye. It also involves psychology and cognition.“That totally changed how scientists thought of color.” #ThatWordChat

In the book, Stamper touches briefly on color perception and color cognition. Her focus stays historical, but the shift in thinking is key. Early 20th-century science began moving beyond color as purely physical. #ThatWordChat

At the core is a mismatch of expertise: lexicographers focus on language while color scientists focus on perception and measurement. “We’re like, it’s all gray.. the layer of meaning was flattened.” #ThatWordChat