Fizzy Olmec Lime

Imitative-onomatopoeic origin — adjectival suffix -y, evoking the sound of carbonation. As a color modifier, fizzy implies a saturated-and-effervescent-and-bubbly quality, the bright color of Champagne-and-Prosecco effervescent-wine carbonation-bubble-light reflection. Sits at the bright-and-effervescent end of the grid, parallel to bubbly and sparkling in usage.

Nahuatl Ōlmēcatl, rubber-people. As a color modifier, olmec implies a pre-Classic-Mesoamerican quality, the visual register of Olmec-civilization-of-La-Venta pre-Classic Mesoamerican hand-carved colossal-head-and-jade-and-pottery archaeological surfaces under La-Venta-and-San-Lorenzo pre-Classic Mesoamerican Gulf-coastal humid light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to aztec and toltec in usage.

Citrus aurantiifolia and its key-lime cousin — small, intensely sour green citrus carried by Arab traders from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean by the eleventh century, then to the Caribbean with Columbus. The color refers to the skin of a fully ripe Persian lime: a saturated, slightly yellow-shifted green with the matte finish of citrus rind. Cooler than chartreuse, sharper than sage, with the same chlorophyll the fruit loses if left to ripen to yellow.