Coloured waters

[Roberto]

I can guess about grey water, but where do the colours of "green water" and "blue water" come from ?

is it a literary or optical origin?

thanks




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[snowleopard]

water is a very colourful medium, here are just a few of the variations

grey: washing up
black: sewage
blue: tropical seas (yes, they really are)
green: channel waves coming over the deck (as seen looking through cabin windows)
white: paddle your own canoe
brown: you sail on the east coast
pink: the dolphins you swam with turned out to be sharks
gold: leave american politics out of this

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[Roberto]

thank you Chris

so "green water" is a typical British expression, coming from the channel colour ?

any idea who used it the first time (fishermen, Nelson passing the portland bill, Coleridge, a jetskier), or when ?

rob



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[Twister_Ken]

Plenty of Homer's "wine dark seas" out your way as well.

There's also the Black Sea to think about.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[ChrisE]

Black water is also the term used around the Solent, at least, to describe the phenomenon of algal bloom that happens in around early May each year. The event pressages the arrival of mackeral two weeks later.

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[Roberto]

that reminds me of a similar phenomenon in the adriatic, hopefully not recurrent: *red water*, reddish microscopic algae giving the water a dark red colour, and filtering away a lot of oxygen, not exactly fishes paradise...



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[StugeronSteve]

Re: Wine dark sea.

Beautiful term, which , I must assume, is appropriate for the Med. Didn't O'Brian borrow it for the title of one of his books? I've also always liked Homer's description of the sea as being "The Highways of the Fish".

One of the Derbyshire Dales we enjoy walking has a small dye works built by the river. We've often seen the down stream water wine dark red, sky blue, cartland pink and just about every other shade imaginable.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[snowleopard]

that's an interesting one. a red algal bloom and its consequences is now thought to be the origin of the plagues of egypt!

the expression 'taking green water' or 'taking it green' is an old one indiccating that it's not just a bit of white spray but 'solid' quantites. solid water is of course liquid but that's nautical language for you.

likewise the floors of a boat are under the floor, the ceilings are on the walls and wrapping yourself in a sheet doesn't preserve your modesty!

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[AlexL]

I think its generally 'optical'. Coastal waters in temperate climes tend to be green, due to the nutrients and plankton in the water, these are actually some of the richest waters in the world in terms of nutrition. Open oceans however tend to look blue as they are relatively devoid of life.
Talking about "taking on green water" I think is a literary device to differentiate between foamy white waves breaking on the deck and solid water.

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[Ships_Cat]

And yellow water is what you pass after taking on green water perhaps?

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.

 

[StugeronSteve]

Re: Yellow Water is...

...more plentifully passed after taking on quantities of brown water I find.

You do get the odd instance of people "taking the yellow water", of course.


<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[pragmatist]

For those of us who had many years on the East Coast and then moved to the W Country I think "see-through water" should be added - it is still a novelty !

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !