Glistening Roman Kelly

Old English glisnian, to glisten — present-participle of glisten, sharing root with German glitzern. As a color modifier, glistening implies a saturated-and-wet-or-polished-reflective quality, the bright color of fresh-rain-and-polished-silver surface-reflection. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to shimmering and gleaming in usage.

Latin Romanus, of-Rome. As a color modifier, roman implies an empire-built-and-classical quality, the visual register of Roman-Imperial hand-laid pavement-and-fresco-and-bronze-and-marble Republican-Imperial classical surfaces under Mediterranean-Roman-Imperial classical-architecture afternoon light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to etruscan and hellenic in usage.

A bright yellow-green named for the Irish surname Kelly, common enough by the late nineteenth century to stand in for generic Irish in American slang. The color is the saturated, optically bright green of a Saint Patrick's Day parade: cleaner than shamrock, brighter than fern, with the pop-culture weight of a color used annually for green beer, green carnations, and the Chicago River.