Unfortunately people talk of colours too loosely, and create confusions that even those who want to be precise have to adapt themselves to. What colour is white wine? Yellow. But try asking the waiter for yellow wine and all you will get is a pitying look. Do you know what colour a sheet of white paper is? Well, take quite a number of sheets, or open several books and lay them in a row. You will find that some are yellow, some brownish, others grey.
Would it be a good thing if people were taught to know their colours? I certainly think so. Any knowledge of the world we live in is useful, and enables us to understand things that previously we did not know existed.
Taken from “Design as Art” by Bruno Munari.