Green ink

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:<font color=green>Green ink</font>}}
<div style="color:green;">{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the Green Line, the 1949-1967 de facto borders of Israel; for that topic, see [[Israel#Onging disputes and crises]].}}</div>

{{gi|'''Green ink''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] journalistic term for the frothing of [[Crank|lunatics]].<ref>{{gi|[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre5.htm Green Ink letter], World Wide Words</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/30/victoria-coren-homophobia-hate-mail "Oh for the days of green ink"], Victoria Coren, [[Grauniad]], 30 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{gi|[http://web.archive.org/web/20070929111109/http://archive.thenorthernecho.co.uk/2006/5/29/227000.html Bile from the green brigade] (''Northern Echo'', 29 May 2006) &mdash; "I once had a letter from a green ink regular, signed Paul the Apostle, telling me I was "the spawn of the horned devil and a wicked whore from hell."}}</ref> Back when letters to news outlets were produced in an archaic medium based on materials known as "paper" and "ink", the nutters would supposedly always write their <big>'''IMPORTANT INFORMATION'''</big> in green.}}

{{gi|It is not known just how many such letters actually existed, or if this is just [[urban legend]], though there are occasional reports of physical manifestations.<ref>{{gi|http://lesswrong.com/lw/1mm/advice_for_ai_makers/1gv2?c=1}}</ref> Common comorbid characteristics include irrelevant capitalisation, religious mania, [[Law of exclamation|overuse of exclamation marks]], and veiled threats or warnings directed at the recipient. An article in ''[[The Observer]]'' about letters to the editor suggests avoidance of green ink.<ref>{{gi|[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,649653,00.html So, you want to write to the editor] (Stephen Pritchard, ''The Observer'', 3 February 2002)}}</ref> According to etymologist Michael Quinion, the association of green ink with cranks was well-known by 1985; however, his readers found earlier references, including [[Carl Sagan]] receiving a long letter in green ink about [[life]] on other planets prior to 1973, and a reference by Kingsley Amis in 1953 to a shady character, revealed as an academic thief, also writing in green ink.<ref>{{gi|[http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gre5.htm Green-ink letter], Michael Quinion, ''World Wide Words'', accessed 19 Aug 2019}}</ref>}}

{{gi|The term remains a useful metaphor for similar frothing in the electronic age, even though the pages are likely to include}} <span style="color: red">every</span> <span style="color: blue">colour</span> <span style="color: orange">rejected</span> <span style="color: purple">from</span> <span style="color: #FF0088">the</span> <span style="color: brown">rainbow</span>{{gi|,<ref>{{Gi|http://haigreport.com is the all-time champion here.}}</ref> in a}} <span style="font-family: serif">tasteful</span> <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">[[Comic Sans|variety]]</span> <span style="font-family: sans-serif">of</span> <tt>fonts</tt>{{gi|. Though the truly exquisite green ink often appears in carefully-formatted black and white PDFs.}}

{{gi|One possible reason for people to use green ink to give them extra authority is that Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming,<ref>{{gi|{{wpa|Mansfield Smith-Cumming}}}}</ref> the first director of the British Secret Intelligence Service{{---}}SIS, commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6){{---}}used green ink and would sign documents with a green "C" (for "chief"), a practice that subsequent chiefs of the SIS have followed.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/286128.stm UK Politics 286128] at news.bbc.co.uk</ref> This practice began around 1909, well before the association of green ink with cranks.<ref>[https://blog.penvibe.com/green-ink-the-colour-of-eccentrics-and-spooks/ Green Ink: The colour of eccentrics and spooks], Pen Vibes, Feb 2, 2019</ref> The guardians of underage Roman emperors used green ink to sign their charge's correspondence.<ref>Alexander Allen, Ph.D, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Atramentum.html "Atramentum"], in: ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D (ed.), John Murray, London, 1875. "But if the emperor was under age, his guardian used a green ink for writing his signature (Montfaucon, Palaeog. p3)."</ref>

{{gi|It may also sometimes be used out of a belief that certain colors of ink photocopy or scan less well than black (particularly in a black-and-white machine). If this were true, green ink would make it harder to copy your brilliant thoughts, preventing plagiarism or keeping records of your insanity, although in practice {{wpl|non-photo blue}} is a better choice.}}

{{gi|When Andrea Leadsom resigned from [[Theresa May]]'s Cabinet in May 2019, she wrote her salutation and signature in green ink.<ref>https://twitter.com/andrealeadsom/status/1131267480742236160</ref>}}}}

=={{gi|See also}}==
*[[Papyrus]] {{gi|&mdash; a favoured font of crackpots}}.
*[[Haig's Law]], {{gi|the digital version.}}
*[[Red-Letter Christians]]
*[[The Spirit Science]]
*[[Time Cube]]
*[[viXra]]
*[[Wake up]]
{{gi|{{otherlang
|fr=Encre verte}}}}

=={{gi|External inks}}==

*{{gi|[https://archive.ph/XDVgJ ASK <nowiki>{{</nowiki>Tq<nowiki>}}</nowiki>] for a classic example. It used to be "small gray" ink, though, until [[User:Human|a RationalWiki editor]] complained that the gray was "insulting and intentionally dimunutiving," and [[User:ListenerX|another one]] changed it to green.}}
*{{gi|[http://chevymo.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-required-for-free-society.html?spref=tw Rants & Reason] The colour problem in action.}}
*{{gi|[https://archive.ph/X6WWR Barry Goldwater vs. the Religious Right] Green ink highlighting ''sensible?'' Goldwater quotes}}
*{{gi|[https://www.nngroup.com/articles/original-top-ten-mistakes-in-web-design/ Original Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design]}}

=={{gi|References}}==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Green ink| ]]
[[Category:Journalism]]
[[Category:Shitty styles]]

Categories: Green ink, Journalism, Shitty styles