got the blues

[Portia]

Tally's great answer got me thinking about the ancient theory of humors, which I don't think is any better or worse than the "color code" for painting personalities with broad strokes, and actually seems to match up decently well.

The four humors were called sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Melancholy was once blamed for pretty much anything that ailed ya, and of course is still a concept used today. The colors in this diagram even match the color code personalities they best line up with, namely yellow, red, blue, and white.

This completely unsourced, unscientific definition of the choleric temperament is the best description of my personality I've read anywhere. (And I've always come out as "red" and "extroverted" on those tests, so I think I have a fairly stable personality.) I thought the point about dominating other personality types/becoming tyrannical was a point well taken, as well as the idea about quickly falling into moodiness if a setback/failure occurs, and is one way to maybe articulate the difference between people prone to depression as such and other sorts of mental issues, like anxiety. (The planning thing is oh-so-true.)

Anyway, I am naturally skeptical of anything based on ancient mumbo-jumbo, but my guess is these are essentially archetypes, and a nice way of organizing the world. As someone who is not like the personality Tally talked about (I don't think I'm that hard to understand, and I would say that maybe I have more aggression and am less sensitive), it was helpful to me to think about what it would be like to have this kind of personality (I have had plenty of friends and family members of all "temperaments") and why depression might be a struggle for the more introverted and cautious among us.

It's kind of cool that to "feel blue" is the common idiom for depression, and "seeing red" for being a hothead, and it seems so natural, doesn't it? Any linguists have theories, or counterexamples in other languages?

Also, I feel like it's a very "blue" thing to write the Board a question worrying about being moody and hard to understand! Hahaha! :-)

[Tally M.]

I really like this chart (http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/v ... -cultures/) Anger is generally red, and unhappiness is generally blue.

One of the things that I think influences Blue's tendency towards depression is that they expect a lot--from themselves and from others. Not that it always is, but it can be.

[Katya]

I really like this chart (http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/v ... -cultures/) Anger is generally red, and unhappiness is generally blue.

That chart is fascinating!

[Portia]

I really like this chart (http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/v ... -cultures/) Anger is generally red, and unhappiness is generally blue.

That chart is fascinating!

I thought it was interesting that in the French comment, they call the purplish color mauve, which brings up interesting distinctions like light blue/dark blue in Russian.

Also, in French, someone who is so new they're "green" is "blue," and you could go green with envy, but you'd more normally be pale from jealousy.