A Rainbow Of Possibilities

The Naming Of Things

Seven different colours of sock - by my count, that means there are 21 unique pair combinations (not including same-colour pairs, obviously, or 42 combinations, if left and right is critical, but I think in most cases, it won't be...)

The task is simple: let's see if we can come up with a name for each of these colour combos.

Red And Orange - Dennis The Tigger

Dennis The Menace has a black and red striped jersey. Tigger is orange-black striped. Simple.

Red And Yellow - Rhubarb And Custard

Red And Green - Nautical Navigation

Red on the port side, green starboard - just like the navigation lights on a boat. I suppose the opposite way around would be called 'Distress Signal' or 'Going The Wrong Way'.

Red And Blue - Emergency Vehicle

Red And Indigo - Two Party Politics

Red And Violet - Fruits Of The Forest

Raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries etc. Yum

Orange And Yellow - St Clements

'"Oranges and Lemons" - say the bells of St Clements'

Orange And Green - Pumpkin Patch

Or Market Stall Carrot

Orange And Blue - Fire And Ice

Needs no explanation.

Orange And Indigo - Coalition Government

Orange And Violet - This Is Hallowe'en

Orange pumpkins and purple... well, in truth, I don't really know why purple is also associated with Hallowe'en - it's part of a triad on a colour wheel along with orange - which is why it they look nice together.

Yellow And Green - Cheese 'n' Onion

Cheese and Onion crisps should come in green and yellow packets - some brands may try to insist the packet should be blue - but that's just wrong.

Or Lemon and Lime.

Yellow And blue - Sun and Moon

Yellow And Indigo - High Noon

Yellow for the sun, in the purest of azure skies. High Noon. Draw!

Yellow And Violet - Jam And Wasps

Green And Blue - Under The Sea

Green And Indigo - Earth And Ocean

Green And Violet - Blackberry And Apple

Why do socks keep making me think of food? Or am I just thinking about food all the time...?

Blue And Indigo - Blues Brothers

Blue And Violet - Purple Rain

Indigo And Violet - Purple Haze

Secretly Silly

For a couple of years now, I've been wearing deliberately odd socks every day - it all started one winter morning, when I got up early and dressed in the dark - only later discovering that one sock was black with a blue toe and heel, and the other was black with a grey toe and heel.

In my defence, everything looks blue in the dark (no, really - it's called the Purkinje effect - look it up!)

Anyway, that started me off on the odd sock path, but with my shoes on, nobody could tell, as all my socks were black, only varying in colour at the toe and heel sections - but that was good - the justaposition of being silly, but nobody noticing was in fact quite pleasing.

Nothing lasts forever though - and so when the time came to buy some new socks, I found (at Sainsbury's) some packs of striped ones in seven different colours - and couldn't resist.

Only One Of Them Is Odd

Obviously, I'm only wearing one odd sock - the other one isn't odd.