Why 'full color' instead of 'full colors'?

Question

Why in this sentence is it written 'full color' instead of 'full colors'? "
"Clark can see through any solid object except for lead. It may appear as a bluish skeletal image similar to the ones seen on hospital x- rays, or it may be a full color image. Clark appears to have mastered the skeletal images over full color."

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Why in this sentence is it written 'full color' instead of 'full colors'? " "Clark can see through any solid ... rays, or it may be a full color image. Clark appears to have mastered the skeletal images over full color."[/nq]
It can be "color" or "colored", but if you choose "colored", the modifier must be "fully". Also, if you choose "color", a hyphen should be added when it precedes "image".
"... it may be a fully colored image."
Here "colored" is an adjective, which should be modified by an adverb, "fully" in this case.
"... it may be a full-color image."
Here "full-color" modifies "image". A "full color image" is a full image of color. I doubt that that is what the writer meant to convey. In the final sentence of your quotation, "full color" doesn't need a hyphen because there is no danger of thinking "full" modifies "image".

Bill
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Why in this sentence is it written 'full color' instead of 'full colors'? " "Clark can see through any solid ... rays, or it may be a full color image. Clark appears to have mastered the skeletal images over full color."[/nq]
Wow, this is really great. I realize now how little info I was given about his x-ray vision. Although I do have doubts that it was in color in the 50's.
Your question reminds me of one I had long ago. Why is it color tv and not colored tv? Colored tv sort of sounds like the tv itself was colored. Before that there was black and white tv. Black and white are adjectives, and I suspect that color was sort of the generic form of those two colors plus all the other colors, and began to be seen as an adjective when used here. black, white, color.

Of course before that there were black and white photographs and color photographs. Color was pretty uncommon in the 50's. I don't know when newspapers began printing color pictures.
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Usenet · Answer

"Bill McCray" (Email Removed) wrote > It can be "color" or "colored", but if you choose "colored", the
[nq:1]modifier must be "fully". Also, if you choose "color", a hyphen should be added when it precedes "image".[/nq]
The English stick to the old formal rules when, in fact, modern usage trends away from the use of hyphenated compounds. Trying to explain that to these assclowns, however, is like beating a dead horse or in this case a horse's ***.
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]modifier must be "fully". Also, if you choose "color", a hyphen should be added when it precedes "image".[/nq]
[nq:1]The English stick to the old formal rules when, in fact, modern usage trends away from the use of hyphenated compounds. Trying to explain that to these assclowns, however, is like beating a dead horse or in this case a horse's ***.[/nq]
How's your "grammer" coming along?

Why 'full color' instead of 'full colors'?

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