I answered "in the buff," as if the color is the color of a random naked person, but I looked it up in the OED, and the relevant meaning is "Of the colour of buff leather; a light brownish yellow." Buff leather is buffalo leather, and from that comes the meaning that "buff" is naked skin and "in the buff" means naked. I'd never thought of the the nakedness usage of "buff" as having anything to do with "buffalo." The word "buff" meaning an enthusiast — as in "film buff" — comes from the enthusiasm for going to fires, in that NYC volunteer firemen at one time wore buff-colored uniforms.
I guess Americans don't use the color name "buff" so much anymore. We do have a tendency to identify light brownish colors as "tan." Obama's summer suit, much-discussed last week, was almost invariably called "tan." Some said "khaki," which the OED calls a "dull brownish yellow." As for "tan," the OED calls it "The brown colour of tan; tawny," "tan" being a cocoction made from oak bark, used in tanning leather. I've long been influenced by the Crayola crayon that was labeled "tan" (at least in the 1950s and 60s), so I see this more as the color of a suntan. Of course, back then, Crayola had a crayon labeled "flesh." That got re-named "peach" in 1962. We knew the Civil Rights Movement had momentum.
Is it only an accident that the subject of race has arisen in the context of what to call the color of Obama's suit? Is the concern about the color of his suit unconscious displacement of concern over the color of his skin? Consult this chart:
Here's the suit:
Buff? Maybe it depends on whether you're an Obama buff. "Buff" also means — referring to a man — "muscular, well-toned; physically attractive." A Google image search for "Obama's buff suit" turns up pictures of him in a bathing suit, presumably in admiration of his bare chest, but perhaps because he's partially in the buff. Be careful though. The etymology all goes back to "buffalo." Remember the infamous "Water Buffalo Incident" of 1993?
On a lighter note, it's Labor Day: Don't wear white after Labor Day.
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He looked like a Philippine President in the 1950s.
Not a bad fashion to bring back.
"Conductor, when you receive a fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!
A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!"
(From "Punch, Brothers, Punch" by Mark Twain.)
"Mostly only ever"? Ayayay!
And Washington designed his uniform in buff and blue.
I don't think I buy that etymology to buffalo.
Nails on blackboard!
The presidency is a serious office and presidents should look serious and dark suits simply look more serious. They should emulate Richard Nixon. He always wore a dark suit. Even to the beach and perhaps to the can. Nixon always looked serious. Obama can learn from Nixon in how to look serious. He already got the law-breaking and Imperial Presidency part down to a science.
Obama could really be a Beau Brummell baby if he just gave it half a chance.
I see we're still discussing the color of Obama's suit and not the (lack of) content of his presentation.
I can assure you that foreign leaders are paying no attention to the suit and lots of attention to his presentation.
I have a bit of colorblindness.
Apparently other people see differences in shades of light colors and shades of dark colors I don't see. Particularly in low light all light colors just look like off white or gray to me, and all dark colors look black. And I have no idea that I am missing anything. I have been surprised a few times to discover that a black car is actually dark green when parked in the noon day sun.
I discovered my colorblindness during the testing in drivers' ed. They wanted to make sure we could all tell red from green. That is not a problem for me. But remember when the streetlights had a blue appearance? I had trouble picking out green traffic signals against a row of blue street lights. It is much easier now that the street lights are yellow.
So on the question of buff vs. tan. vs. white--just give me the answer and I will believe you.
Jimmy Carter's "Malaise Speech" sweater was buff, too.
I remember buff from the old days, when we had reams of different colored paper for the ditto and copy machines at school, and apart from white there were specialized names such as goldenrod and buff.
The trouble is that the press corpss expected some sort of a portentous announcement, and then they got this, and his suit became emblematic of the speech.
Yeah, Hammermill still makes buff.
The Beau Brummels.
I just realized why buff is a familiar color to me. I grew up knowing my state's official colors: buff and colonial blue.
Luckily for us, we have as a president a dandy, not a fop or, God help us, a ninny.
In the Coast Guard, we used a color called "Navy Buff" to paint stanchions, masts and other deck fittings. It does look like buffalo leather, I guess. See it here: http://www.art-paints.com/Paints/Airbrush/Badger/ModelFlex-Marine/Navy-Buff/Navy-Buff.html
Buff is a lighter shade. A contrast between aristocrat and peasant, between lord and serf.
The golf course is the only venue where grown men still dress up in outrageous colors. But I say Obama is sending color coded messages to Putin who also has satellites that can see what Obama's colored outfit of the day is and look it up in the Code Books.
You will notice that neither Google nor Amazon sells a Cyrillic Alphabet color codebooks anymore.
B. H. Obama would be more properly dressed in orange.
As I mentioned earlier Obama should learn from Nixon and not only the bad stuff but the good stuff as well. The world respected Nixon. The Russians feared Nixon. We could use a man like Nixon again.
"Of course, back then, Crayola had a crayon labeled "flesh." That got re-named "peach" in 1962. We knew the Civil Rights Movement had momentum."
But then it got Buffaloed.
Buff is a common color for the decks of sailboats. Most sailors are familiar with the color buff.
"In the buff"? I think you're trolling for some of that Jennifer Lawrence nude traffic, lol.
The alma mater of POTUS has a different take on "buff":
http://www.punahoustore.com/
Buff's been pretty much replaced with "beige" as far as I can tell. Which is ever so much less sexy and more corporate-ghastly a term, you know?
I just realized why buff is a familiar color to me. I grew up knowing my state's official colors: buff and colonial blue.
Long before your state adopted buff and blue, the colors of the Continental Army's staff officer uniform, England's Whig party adopted them as a signal of solidarity with America's resistance Lord North's government.
Here's Whig leader Charles Fox wearing the colors.
And the Duchess of Devonshire, a noted Whig supporter as interpreted in a recent film wearing buff and blue.
In the 17th and 18th centuries buff had a distinct military connotation, particularly with a kind of plebeian anti-royalism associated with opposition to the House of Stuart. This attitude derived from the use of leather armor by Cromwell's cavalry, who though popularly known as the Ironsides, seldom wore the steel plate armor favored by the royalist horsemen. The typical Parliamentarian cavalry kit consisted of a helmet known as a lobster tail pot, and a heavy leather garment known as a buff coat.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:60-tan-crayon_(1).jpg
Looks like "tan" to me. All I needed to learn about color, I learned in kindergarten.
Perhaps I should start referring to the color as "tumbleweed." Seems like it's even closer than tan.
http://qph.is.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-bced370aaa078b6eafea72ea2047be1b
Or would that be even more racist, somehow?
To the extent presidents have any influence on fashion, I'm a fan of the lighter-colored suit (during summer anyway) as well as his avoiding neckties (which are basically nooses). The "mom-jeans" though were a travesty and were properly mocked.
Maybe it is because I am old enough to remember when speech in America was more precise, but I always thought of buff as being a color, very light beige (the color you show as tan); naked; polish something as in give it a light buffing, or a heavy buffing; buffed up, meaning all dressed up; or muscular from weight training. I have never looked it up.
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