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Subject:Amber vs Orange From:Carl Miller <ccm -at- PANDORA -dot- CRAY -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 1 Feb 1995 16:00:40 -0600
On a control panel are 20 indicators: two are green; 18 are (not green).
The green indicators are, of course, illuminated during normal operation.
Each of the other indicators is illuminated when something goes wrong.
The color of these 18 warning indicators is (technically) amber. The
engineering spec defines it as amber; I recognized and called them amber
when I first saw them. But my editor--bless her non-technical heart--
wonders about the term for ESL (English as a second language) readers.
Should I use "orange" or "yellow" instead of "amber?" There are no
other indicator colors on the equipment, so there will be no confusion
between these and any other indicators. But I'd prefer to provide the
correct English (American?) word and include it in the translator's
glossary.
Do other languages translate amber to mean "more yellowish than orange,
but definitely not yellow?"