- I came across a sentence "They were wearing heavy black coats" . I want to know what 'heavy' means here. Does it mean the coat was heavy ( maybe the materials used to make the coat are of high density to make it thick enough to keep warm) ? Or does it mean the color of the coat was very dark? And what about light grey jacet? Is it talking about the color or the weight ? THanks .
asked Nov 6, 2013 at 23:33
Sleeping On a Giant's ShoulderSleeping On a Giant's Shoulder
8171 gold badge11 silver badges26 bronze badges
-
1MIB HC - Men in black heavy coats.– Blessed GeekCommented Nov 7, 2013 at 1:24
-
The opposite of "light" in the colour "light grey" is "dark grey", not "heavy grey". The opposite of "light" in "light jacket" is indeed "heavy jacket".– Peter ShorCommented Nov 7, 2013 at 8:50
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
"Heavy" in "heavy black coats" is a reference to the thickness of the fabric. It is not, for instance, a light windbreaker, it's made of a relatively sturdy fabric. There is not generally a "heavy black" color, though one might see it in literary contexts.
The "light" in "light gray jacket," however, I would usually take to mean a jacket of unspecified weight in a light-gray color, unless context clearly indicated "light" was a fabric weight.
-
… or unless a comma separated the two adjectives: a light, grey jacket would be a grey jacket made of a light fabric, while a light-grey jacket would be a jacket of a light-grey colour, and a light grey jacket could be either, depending on context. Commented Nov 7, 2013 at 1:38
-
Correct, and a good real-life example of when punctuation matters.– KevinCommented Nov 7, 2013 at 1:40
-
We're lucky they weren't wearing heavy light grey jackets. Or, even worse, light light grey jackets. Commented Nov 7, 2013 at 8:54
If I were writing that sentence and intended to use the word heavy in reference to the color, I would personally hyphenate it to become heavy-black coat. It would be even more necessary in light grey, seeing as "light" is a common word with which to define both color and coats, whereas I've never heard "heavy" being used for color.
