What is beige? The first thing that may come to mind is a color: specifically, a light shade of brown. It is not necessarily pleasing to the eye, however it is not necessarily repugnant either. The Oxford Dictionary defines beige as “a pale sandy yellow-brownish color”, however, the Urban Dictionary defines it as “Referring to an individual (or group of people) that is average, commonplace, boring, drab, dull, typical, "not all that".”

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word “beige” originates from the word “bege” in Old French, “bambagia” in Old Italian, and “bombax” in Medieval Latin. It has Indo-European roots. The word appeared in the mid-19th century (around 1850), however the more recent slang definition of the word originated in the late 20th century and was popularized in the 21st century.

Believe it or not, but the color beige is surprisingly similar to the slang definition of the word beige. The color beige is dull, drab, and there isn’t anything adherently special about it. One would most commonly see it as the color of walls in an office space, sand on an empty beach, or floorboards in an old house. There are no beige flowers or beige theme parks. No beige castles or rainbows. Beige is nobody’s favorite color, but it isn’t anybody’s least favorite color either. It is just forgettable: Completely neutral. 

Upon further investigation, I learned that this can actually apply to a lot of other colors, not just beige. For example, take the color “blue” into consideration. The color blue is dark, mysterious, and deep, which actually aligns with Oxford’s description of the adjective blue: melancholy, sad, or depressed. This shows that a lot of colors are associated with specific traits and some even have their own official definitions to align with them.

Although the word beige is typically used with a negative connotation, after looking at it in a more positive light, I realized that there are plenty of positive aspects of the word that one may not notice right away. “Average, commonplace, boring, drab, dull, typical, ‘not all that’” doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative thing. 

For one, being commonplace and 'not all that' shows that beige doesn’t try to be in the spotlight all the time. It isn’t too attention-seeking. It lets other people take the spotlight without getting jealous or being a distraction. It can be open, peaceful, calming, neutral, and unbiased. If I were to make a personal definition of beige, I would say that it is “(of a person) simple, easygoing, generous, and at peace with oneself”. With this in mind, maybe I’m actually more similar to the word beige than I give myself credit for.