All words that start with the letter O appear white to me. I read in some scientific paper (yes, brain research on synesthesia is now flourishing) that a majority of synesthetes perceive O as white. (But isn't that obvious? I'm genuinely curious whether a person without synesthesia has any sense of the pure whiteness of the letter O. Can you tell me? In contrast, 1, I, !, which have contrasting vertical shapes, appear like a lovely jet-black to me.) I find it comforting to know that, while being a synesthete makes me a minority in society, I still maintain majority status within the community of synesthetes at least. Somewhere, many others agree with me that O-words are white. The broader question is, why the universality for some associations, but not others? However, certain words get a hint of the meaning of the word that bleeds into their basic coloring and tints them. October is one of these words. Read more →