And within a culture (which I’m sure you’ve seen, but just in case…occasional strong language warning)
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I am contractually obliged to link to Mari Uusküla’s paper on the topic (Mari agrees with you).
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This is always worth a review,
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It always amazes me what rules native speakers can follow without knowing the rule. Reminds me of:
Source of the Twitter quote is “The Elements of Eloquence”, by Mark Forsyth, which is a fun read.
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One of the most useful things I’ve ever encountered in my life has been the late Suzette Haden Elgin [a linguist and also a SciFi author] ’s Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense books. One of the things she talked about was that verbal abuse works, in part, because all native speakers of English know the unwritten rules of speech, and only certain ways of combining words, tone, rhythms of speech, etc. are attack patterns. It’s fascinating stuff (and incredibly useful info if you are dealing with a bully, I found from experience).
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Thanks! Never heard of the books before; have ordered a couple now.
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Obligatory Frasier:
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Cool! I hope it’s interesting/useful to you. Some of the books are more “meaty” and go into more depth than others…I just bought the ones I found in local used bookstores back in the '80s and '90s.
It really changed my own verbal behavior too (not saying I’m perfect, by any means, of course). You (meaning anyone) may recognize un-useful patterns that you’ve used yourself all your life, not knowing any better, because that’s what you’ve grown up with…
Wish I had something to offer here about paint colors, to keep it on topic…
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I’ve always rather admired their chutzpah at selling books with expiry dates:
Fine - a nice mix of chrome yellow, white lead and Scheele’s green will look lovely on those walls.
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Oui, mon Empereur! Tout de suite!
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I once lived in a rental where i described the bedroom trim paint color as “baby puke green”. The wallpaper was a kind of mustard yellow small flower print and the trim was a mixture of mustard yellow and a dull chartreuse
that error in the form of paint still did not beat the rental my aunt had though, it came blessed baby blue carpeting that was quite plush, goldenrod colored valances and curtains and a variety of progressively awful wallpapers - my favorite was the silver foil wallpaper in the upstairs bathroom because it would fog up when you showered
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Fun fact–ochre, umber, and sienna are earth pigments, meaning they occur naturally and have been used for tens of thousands of years or more, including to make known cave paintings.
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What does it say about my Crayola 
years that the first few words that came to mind while reading this were yellow, red, and burnt? 
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Not many people know that commercial ochre and sienna deposits are usually found by the distinctive smell that permeates up through the rocks and soil to the surface.
Great mines stink alike.
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Whenever I play Ticket To Ride, I say “purple-pink” to avoid arguments over what the actual color is.
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I have a Calamityware puzzle called “Bad Neighborhood” that I absolutely love because the colors are all insane and barely nameable. So you’re looking for “blurple-hairy-monster” pieces, etc. There are funky fonts, borders, creatures, and colors, making it a delight to work on.
They don’t make this specific puzzle anymore, but continue to make interesting ones (and plenty of other fun stuff including their tweaky plates).
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I once saw in a paint colour catalogue lo these many years ago now, the very same two institutional drab greens that my (and for a lot of you, your) school walls were painted. They were dubbed, respectively, ‘shipwreck’ and ‘raft’.
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