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How the Colors Got Their Names

In some ways, colors are the ultimate example of language's power. The earliest humans didn't have words for colors. They had words for objects and actions, and it took tens of thousands of years for those words to evolve into the names of the colors we use today. In this episode, we’ll answer that age-old question, which came first: orange the fruit or orange the color?

How the Colors Got Their Names

6m 29s

In some ways, colors are the ultimate example of language's power. The earliest humans didn't have words for colors. They had words for objects and actions, and it took tens of thousands of years for those words to evolve into the names of the colors we use today. In this episode, we’ll answer that age-old question, which came first: orange the fruit or orange the color?

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