Talk:Roy G. Biv

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I don't expect that any page will ever actually link here, but to facilitate a reader's search for this phrase, I believe this needs to exist. Elf | Talk 18:45, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It'd function happily as a redirect. Jimp 05:42, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Hmmm, Yes, but what about...

Well I cannot remember the source but with reagards to to describing the visible spectrum, I had heard, or read that Sir Isaac Newton originally named only 5 colors to describe what he saw, but because music, was being analyzed and quantified, etc. and the science of music was deciding that 7 was the numbert of tones that should be ordered (do, rea, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) Sir Isaac thought it best to yank 2 more colors out to make it 7 to match other systems being ordered at that time. This makes a great deal of sense when you view your first sunlight spectrum. That Blue, Indigo, Violet mush at the end! But if Cyan was not an easily recognizable hue...what was he to do? No this is not a joke.--Dkrolls 14:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)Elf | Talk 18:45, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Wihtout having seen this comment, I added a mention of this a couple of weeks later (in May). I got it from the visible spectrum Wiki article. I will endeavor soon to add the references that are there. It's always been a pet peeve of mine that indigo really doesn't belong there (and evidently Isaac Asimov had said the same thing), but it wasn't until reading the Wiki articles that it sunk in just how arbitrary it all was. danwWiki 19:10, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
There is some evidence that Newton's use of the terms blue and indigo map to the modern hues turquoise/cyan and blue respectively. This seems credible as many people would find it easier to accept a seventh hue between green and blue rather than between blue and violet. I'm trying to dig out the reference for this. Neil Dodgson 13:29, 21 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Gamboge

I feel Gamboge is an important addition to this article, appearing between Red and Orange. This is how I learned this mnemonic device when I was a lad. Indigo and Violet are quite similar, so other close colors may also be included.

A google search for "roy g biv" returns about 126,000 hits. Googling for "rgoy g biv" returns zero. Provide a cite that this "rgoy g biv" exists beyond a handful of people, and I won't revert it a third time. Travisl 21:43, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
Oh, and that's not the name of the song on the album, nor is "Great" mentioned in Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York. Travisl 21:45, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Undelete Roy G. Biv Adventures

Roy G. Biv Adventures (the comic) is popular among college and high school students from the Connecticut area. It hasn't garnered much attention otherwise, since it's passed around in minicomic form in small circles. It is relevant and should be reincluded in the article. 18:22, 2 August 2006 24.44.48.23

If it "hasn't garnered much attention" other than a small circle of people in Connecticut, is it notable enough to be part of a discussion of the color spectrum? I don't think it's relevant to the topic. If it's significantly notable, please create Roy G. Biv Adventures; perhaps a disambiguation link on Roy G. Biv would be appropriate then. I have my doubts about the comic's notability, though, as the only reference I'm finding to it is the page linked earlier, and a search for the artist's name plus "biv" returns only that same page -- and that page is chock full of google ads and pop-under windows. http://www.google.com/search?&q=%22jason+bitterman%22+biv -- Travisl 06:22, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
Is it really less important than a single song from the Boards of Canada? Either remove that as well or reinclude Roy G. Biv Adventures. Just because it doesn't have a prescense on the internet doesn't mean it isn't incredibly popular. 05:35, 3 August 2006 208.193.132.253
If Roy G. Biv Adventures or Jason Bitterman was notable enough to have an article, it would be important enough. Boards of Canada are apparently more important -- their article exists (although I have no idea as to their true notability).
(Adding missing signatures from this thread, too) Travisl 15:39, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Popular (?) Mnemonics

I'm calling BS on the "Virgins In Bed Get Your Organs Red." mnemonic. It may be a valid mnemonic, but it has ONE hit on Google other than this page, and is immature to boot.

A lot of people are clearly familiar with the "Roy G. Biv" (and variants) mnemonic and also "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" (Google has about 1000 hits). I'm not sure I believe those other mnemonics though. Good books? Rowntrees? All ingenious, but can anyone supply a reference? "Ring Out Your Granny's Boots In Vinegar" is not event spelled correctly ("Wring", which destroys the mnemonic), unless that is an intentionally humorous point of course. I'll delete these unless someone stands up for them or can supply references. Mooncow 18:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree; if we don't find a source, take them out. "Rowntrees of York" is a famous store, so it seems likely that its initials ROY would have been adopted this way, but I don't see a source. Dicklyon 21:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
Done. I looked for a substantiating source and didn't spot one. The ones I removed are shown below. Mooncow 00:44, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
  * "Ring Out Your Great Bells In Victory"
  * "Read Out Your Good Book In Verse" (referring to the Bible)
  * "Rowntrees Of York Gave Best In Value" (referring to the confectionery firm Rowntrees)
  * "Ring Out Your Granny's Boots In Vinegar"
  * "Rip Off Your Green Bra IVy"  —Preceding

unsigned comment added by 137.222.217.46 (talk) 17:44, 21 November 2007 (UTC)


I was actually taught "Roll Over You Great Big Ignorant Virgin" at school (aged 12), but teacher did say we should use "Richard of York Gained Battles In Vain" if anyone asked us in an exam ! It gets 0 Google hits, though ! --195.137.93.171 (talk) 14:00, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed rewrite

I was astounded to find this article on Wikipedia, when searching for the colours of the rainbow. The link ROYGBIV redirects here, a page which is totally slanted to a US-centric mnemonic for remembering the order of the colours. I have not ever heard of "Roy G. Biv" as a way of remembering this list, and nor has anyone I've asked. I took a survey of 120 of my students and not a single one had heard of this. However it is listed as a "traditional" mnemonic, without stating any particular country. I would suggest this is only traditional in Northern America. Coming from the UK, everyone I know is familiar with the Richard of York... version.

However, the article - after mentioning Roy G. Biv as the foremost method of remembering the sequence - goes on to then describe the history/reasoning of how the colours came to be listed.

Then follows another listing of methods of remembering the sequence.

I think the article should be re-written to be titled "Colours of the Rainbow" (with or without the 'u' if you prefer!). Then, the history part should serve as the intro, with methods of remembering it following.

Also, the Acorn Electron game mentioned in the Cultural References section does not reference the subject of this article but instead just has the first letters of the colours in order - the password is not "Roy G. Biv" it's ROYGBIV. Howie ☎ 00:24, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Good to know. I've flagged it. I'm not sure that "Colors of the rainbow" would be an appropriate title, though. I'm US-centric myself, but perhaps "Color spectrum mnemonics" would be better? Travisl (talk) 01:07, 26 January 2008 (UTC)