coded » coated

Chiefly in:   color-coated

Variant(s):  colour-coated

Classification: English – /t/-flapping

Spotted in the wild:

  • The key maps are colour-coated depending on which party won the ridings shown on the map. (Wikipedia, Canadian federal election, 2004 map gallery, revision as of 07:44, 9 October 2004)
  • Also it’s color coated so the colors change to match the channel it’s sending audio out of. (electronic music, ad, May 12 2005)
  • Color Coated Inputs (The mobilevideo Store)
  • Color Coated Cutting Boards
    These color coated cutting boards leave no question as to which board is in use and what possible contamination hazards might be present with that particular food item. (link)

The existence of color-coding - assigning meanings to colors - and color-coating - coating things (paper, metal, etc.) with a coat of color - seems to have led to some confusion about which is which. In some of the above examples, both phrases appear as if interchangeable. After all, if something is color coded, it must be coated with a color, right? Not if it’s not a color coating (which seems to be more of an industrial term) but, say, an item dyed that color.

| link | entered by Ann Burlingham, 2005/08/25 |

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