The 3,000 hidden colors of the dictionary, with Kory Stamper

In this episode of Grammar Girl, host Mignon Fogarty interviews Kory Stamper, author of the new book True Color, about her deep dive into the hidden world of color definitions in Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Stamper recounts how she stumbled upon over 3,000 uniquely styled color definitions while working as a Merriam-Webster editor, sparking a years-long investigation into their origins. These definitions, written in a precise, almost scientific voice, were crafted by a network of consultants—many unnamed—during the 1940s–1960s, a period of rapid scientific advancement in color theory. The episode explores the tension between scientific accuracy and lay understanding, the role of companies like DuPont and GAF in shaping color science, and the fascinating but flawed attempt to standardize color through the Munsell color space. Despite the elegance of the system, its reliance on now-obsolete commercial color names and the instability of color perception over time rendered many definitions unusable. The story also reveals the overlooked contributions of women like Margaret Godlove, who continued her husband’s work after his sudden death. The episode concludes with a surprising revelation: 'gray' and 'grey' are not just spelling variants but historically distinct colors in industrial standards, challenging a long-held belief in the English language community.