Comments on: Azed 2085

By: keriothe

keriothe — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:19:27 +0000

I was puzzled by b for brown too, and it’s really been annoying. Hope someone can figure it out!
Thanks for the blog and explanations on a couple of others.
@RCWhiting: if you’re colour blind the stop light is still the one at the top!

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:16:25 +0000

If colour blindness was such a concern when wiring plugs how come we all manage to cope with traffic lights?

By: The Trafites

The Trafites — Mon, 28 May 2012 07:18:52 +0000

I am still mystified to this day why once upon a time Cheese & Onion crisp packets was green, and salt and vinegar was blue – then they SWAPPED the colours around.

It still buggers me up today…

Nick

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:22:01 +0000

Thanks Gaufrid. A bit of European harmony has always been worth a lot since its absence leads to much worse than a mis-wired plug.

By: Gaufrid

Gaufrid — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:48:45 +0000

Hi RCW
I will have to reprimand myself for going seriously off-topic here but I can answer your implied question. The change from red/black/green for flexible cords occurred for two reasons, firstly European harmony and secondly due to the fact that many people who are colour blind cannot differentiate between red and green. For them, wiring a plug presented a potential safety hazard.

If my memory serves me correctly, and it may well not after all this time, the earth became green with a yellow stripe for a similar reason, to assist people with colour blindness identify which wire is which, particularly the all important safety earth.

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:32:44 +0000

Thanks for that rapid correction, Nick. Saved me from running round the house rewiring all my plugs.
When the change from Red/Black/Green happened the GB aide memoir was widely used. I have never understood why the change was necessary, the former seemed very natural (Red = danger, green = earth), why earth should be green/yellow striped I’ve no idea!

By: The Trafites

The Trafites — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:33:57 +0000

Ummmph, buggered that up. The live wire in plugs is Br(own), the neutral is B(lue). So I meant to say B = Blue in that context.

Nick

By: The Trafites

The Trafites — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:24:03 +0000

Reference B = brown. The live wire in plugs is Blue…

I did not do this Azed, I only really do the competition puzzles and my blog turn, but most of the day I have searched for this B = Brown.

Sometimes compilers use a ‘lesser’ usage of an abbreviation, like RGB (Red, Green, Blue), so here Blue = B – BUT Chambers doesn’t ever have this listed.

So somewhere, Chambers does have B = Brown, but where, and under what context, I do not know.

If it doesn’t, then the usual ‘The Chambers Dictionary (2011) is recommended.’ is a bum steer when Azed uses stuff that isn’t in there.

Nick

By: RCWhiting

RCWhiting — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:04:51 +0000

George Brown was a live wire (when not too drunk).
It is a great pleasure on Sundays but perhaps does not appeal to a wide readership.

By: sidey

sidey — Sun, 27 May 2012 10:36:48 +0000

Norman, b is brown in electric plug wiring.