The walls are blue you guys.

From the Wikipedia: Blue.

Blue is a color, but the Wikipedia insists it’s a “colour.” The perception of blue is “evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nanometers.” Basically every different type of color theory — and there are a few — says blue is a primary color, though some don’t call it that. Whatever, that part is boring.

The word “blue” comes from an amalgamation of sources. It came into Middle English from the Old French word bleu, which apparently actually meant blue-grey, which is confusing. That, in turn, may have come from Old High German — not to be confused with an old, high German, sitting around smoking dope all like, “meine hosen sind bleu.”

There are many different words in various languages related to the word blue if not necessarily the color. Ancient Greek did not have a word for blue, which is random, and many languages do not distinguish between blue and green.

A bunch of different chemical pigments can be made to turn things blue. Before synthetic dyes, people needed indigo, which grows in Asia. You’d think that distance would be enough to dissuade people in Europe from having a lot of blue things, but no. Instead they created all sorts of plantations and shipping routes so they could get their hands on blue stuff. Lots of people suffered and died so other people could have blue shirts. People are in general pretty stupid.

A few animals are legitimately blue, like the blue jay and the utterly awesome blue poison arrow frog. But most times people say an animal is blue they actually mean it’s gray, like a Kerry Blue Terrier that hasn’t been to dip-a-pet.

In English, if someone is feeling “blue” it usually means he’s sad. This apparently comes from Greek mythology. Even though the Greeks didn’t have a word for blue, blue is linked to rain, and Zeus made it rain when he was sad. (Worth noting: Members of hip-hop outfit Travis Porter make it rain at the club, but they might also be sad on the inside.)

In German, to be blue means to be drunk. This use derives from — no joke — the ancient practice of using human urine in the indigo dying process. So not only did blue clothes used to cost a ton in money and human toil, they were soaked in pee. Not humanity’s finest hour.

In the Western hemisphere, blue generally symbolizes the male gender. But that’s a reasonably new trend — in the early 1900s, blue was for girls and pink was for boys. This information is massively useful if you ever find a time machine. Don’t go back to 1910 and assume the blue-tiled bathroom at the movie theater is for men. The whole color-coding system is different, brother. Also, there are only like five movie theaters.

Blue is in many flags and has symbolic value in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. The color has been adopted by various political groups and assorted causes.

Many different companies use blue in their products, logos and graphics, including Old Navy and Long John Silver’s.

The NBA, NFL and MLB all have blue in their official logo. The NHL does not, but it has a team called “the Blues.” The Blues are named for the music, but the music is named for the color. Many sports teams are blue.

The Wikipedia doesn’t say it, but blue is also a flavor. Sometimes companies try to pass it off as blueberry or blue-raspberry flavored, but really it just tastes like blue. The bluest tasting thing is Blue Curacao. Also very blue-tasting are blue Fla-Vor-Ices and the blue type of those 50-cent juices we used to buy at the deli near my middle school. Actually, most blue foods taste pretty blue.

I’m currently wearing a blue shirt and chewing on a blue pen. There are a bunch of blue folders on the desk next to mine. Other things that are blue include: The sky, the ocean sometimes, many types of toothpaste, Frank Sinatra’s eyes, and blue paint.