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Off color

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Off color|Idiomatic Phrase|Can refer to feeling slightly unwell physically or emotionally; alternatively describes jokes, comments, or behavior that are indecent, risqué, or socially inappropriate.

Detailed Definition
Off colour means slightly ill, unwell, indecent, improper, or in bad taste, depending on context. In poetry, the idiom can describe bodily malaise, social discomfort, questionable humour, or a mood that seems subtly wrong. The colour image makes health and propriety visual: something has lost its natural tone. A poet may use it delicately for sickness, or sharply for speech that violates decorum. Its ambiguity is useful, allowing physical, moral, and aesthetic unease to overlap within one phrase.
Example
Example in poetry:
A comic poem might say the jester's off-colour joke made the duchess drop her fan; In a sickroom lyric, the child looks off-colour beneath the morning light; The phrase can mean slightly unwell or indecent in tone; A poet must make the context clear.
Additional Notes
Off colour can mean slightly unwell, inappropriate, or in poor taste, depending on context. In poetry, this ambiguity is valuable: colour can refer to health, mood, morality, or language. It can describe a face, joke, atmosphere, room, or social moment. Students should watch spelling and usage, as British English favours colour. The phrase pairs well with pallor, blushes, sickly light, and the boundaries of propriety.
Also Known As
inappropriate
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