Talk:Electronic color code

Adopted orphan redirects for searching: Electronic colour code

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Is blind beggars roast our young goats, but vegans go without actually in common use? I have never come across it whilst I have frequently come across the black bastards rape our young girls but virgins go without mnemonic. Or is this a location / era thing? SGBailey 23:56 Dec 14, 2002 (UTC)

It's a bit tongue-in-cheek. If there's a desire to document the mnemonic as a historical artifact, that can be done. It was presented in the article as a suggested means of remembering the color coding, in which case any mnemonic would do. --Len.

The one you removed is in current(!) use. Is the one you replaced it with also in use or just one you made up on the spur of the moment? SGBailey 09:13 Dec 15, 2002 (UTC)

If it is in current use, then state the fact, "electricians have used the following mnemonic, blah blah blah, since before the 1960s, etc., etc.." That would be appropriate. It would be inappropriate to say, "Here's a good way to remember the color codes." The former is a statement of fact; the latter is an inappropriate suggestion for an encyclopedia to make. (And yes, I made it up. I bet the Wiki community can come up with a mnemonic which is 50 times more memorable, and also very funny, and also something I can teach my son as he studies for his amateur radio license. Think 'bald burglars'! Think 'bold builders'! Think 'big bladders'! Think 'brawny butchers'! Use a little imagination.) --Len

[Note: I have no intention of starting an edit war here; if you want it in there I will not keep taking it out, though I will probably make it into a statement of fact instead of a recommendation. But the advice given above is good--think about it. --Len.]

It is in current use, but is perhaps too non-PC for something that minor. The easy way is to delete that paragraph entirely. I definitely do not want a "wiki made up" mnemonic. SGBailey 23:17 Dec 15, 2002 (UTC)

I'm Mr. Non-PC, but there's a difference between non-PC and bigoted. The fact that the mnemonic exists is fine; the suggestion that people go use it goes over the line. But out of curiosity, why does the origin of your mnemonics make a huge difference? Do you feel uncomfortable using memory aids which haven't been "blessed" in some way? What difference does it make? --Len.

This is an encyclopaedia, not a work of fiction. The mnemonic I listed is one in active use. I am not trying to suggest anyone should use it or any other mnemonic, it was just a report of how things are. As I said, it is easier to omit it. SGBailey 09:27 Dec 16, 2002 (UTC)

Hmmm...you seem to be missing the point, but I can't see much use in laboring it further. You can put the original in if you say, "Most American EEs are taught the color code using the following mnemonic..." since that would be a statement of fact. You won't get far putting it in there as a suggestion: "Hey folks, if you want to remember the color codes, try this!" However, putting a new suggestion into the article doesn't make it a work of fiction; though it would be "fiction" if somebody wrote, "Everyone uses this mnemonic...." You seem not to grasp the distinction I'm making here, though I don't think it's a deep and subtle one. Can you help clarify what you don't get here? --Len.

Put differently, if I write a new text on electronics and offer a new acronym, would that make my new book "fiction"? --Len.

The mnemonic in question is not there to be read anymore but I have no trouble guessing which one it was. (Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.) Anyway, I would like to remark that it may not be PC but actually IS a good mnemonic. People tend to remember it rather well. This is probably significant in some way or another but that is beside the point. The point is a popular (and well working) mnemonic exists. I'd say, mention it as it is and perhaps if you feel people would be offended offer a PC alternative.

Better table

I didn't know this article existed, and I just made this table for Wikibooks:

Color	1st band	2nd band	3rd band	Multiplier	Tolerance
Black	0	0	0	×100
Brown	1	1	1	×101	±1% (F)
Red	2	2	2	×102	±2% (G)
Orange	3	3	3	×103
Yellow	4	4	4	×104
Green	5	5	5	×105	±0.5% (D)
Blue	6	6	6	×106	±0.25% (C)
Violet	7	7	7	×107	±0.1% (B)
Gray	8	8	8		±0.05%
White	9	9	9
Gold				×0.1	±5% (J)
Silver				×0.01	±10% (K)
None					±20% (M)

it is better in some ways, worse in others. the markup is very ugly and the colors are awful in firefox (i changed some it looks better now). streamline it if you can. and convert to pretty hex colors please. and the blank cells look ugly in internet explorer. i don't know why. Someone should merge the best qualities of each, make them better, and put them both in this article and on Wikibooks:Electronics:Component_Identification#4-band_Axial_Resistors. Please? - Omegatron 19:44, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC)

I fixed it. - Omegatron 16:30, Sep 9, 2004 (UTC)

the version I learned

The version I learned in 10th grade high school electronics class 34 years ago was "Bad Boys Ruin Our Young Girls But Violet Gives (or Goes) Willingly", which is slightly more PC but still has much of the flavor of the version you mention. It was also very popular among radio hams at the time, at least on the east coast of the USA, so I would mention it here simply because it was common.

IMHO, political correctness has no place in Wikipedia (except perhaps as the title of an NPOV article on that subject, if that's possible.) We're supposed to be descriptive, not proscriptive. If something is or was commonly used, that fact alone should be enough to merit a mention. User:Karn 24 May 2005