<p>Their colors are similar and close. Usually, 茶色 is short of 茶叶色(color of red tea) and used for glass. For example, 茶色玻璃.  Well, 咖啡色 is usually used for other objects. Like, 咖啡色皮夹克. But it's not wrong if replace one with the other in any case. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-27T06:05:19.267Z
2018-01-27T06:05:19.267Z
dan
<p>I’ve always thought the formal way to indicate the colour brown was with “棕色”, which I had picked up through text. In everyday speech while growing up, my family had always used “咖啡色”. In Cantonese, we would say “啡色”.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-01T15:11:14.217Z
2018-03-01T15:11:14.217Z
judester
<p>I've learned that 咖啡色 now is the most common way of saying "brown". <strong>Does that mean that saying 茶色 now is outdated, and not used any more, or are both words still used?</strong></p>

<hr>

<p>Would also be interesting to know if these are considered to be the same color, or if there is indeed a difference between what shade of brown they are used to describe.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-27T05:37:45.360Z
see frequency numbers, note different types of brown: bkrs： **茶色**  dark brown; tawny 一种比栗色稍红的棕橙色至浅棕色 fr.#41251 syn.褐, 栗色, 褐色
 **咖啡色**  coffee color，brown 深棕色 fr. #25730 syn.驼色
 **驼色**  camel; colour of camel's hair; light tan 如骆驼毛一般的浅棕色,fr.#57740 syn. 咖啡色
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-27T09:21:14.597Z
@user6065 Interesting! Where did you get the frequency numbers from? Is there a good online source?
PetaspeedBeaver
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-27T10:28:44.357Z
Chinese-Russian/English dictionary:   https://bkrs.info/
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-31T06:45:07.990Z
omg!for years I thought brown is 棕色!!do we share a same colour of the world?
J.Wang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-31T21:54:00.150Z
@user6065 make that an answer!
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-01T01:45:18.030Z
as readers of online stories can confirm 褐色(#17405) seems more common than either of the above, e.g. the first 2 stories of the collection of Alfred Hitchcock short stories http://www.my285.com/zt/xqkek/index.htm both contain one instance of 褐色
爱神无顾：路茜小姐看到他  **褐色** 的皮肤，奇特的双眼，还有一种深沉温和的耐心。百叶窗：他有一个双下巴，一双温和的 **褐色** 的眼睛，浓浓的眉毛。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-02T10:30:58.520Z
@user3306356 我在bkrs.info里搜索了коричневый，是俄语翻译 brown的词。但是没看到了frequency numbers (”发生率居数“？)。是在哪儿？
goPlayerJuggler
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-02T10:32:30.950Z
@goPlayerJuggler I think you mean user6065, not me.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-02T13:23:30.170Z
@user6065 我在bkrs.info里搜索了коричневый，是俄语翻译 brown的词。但是没看到了frequency numbers (”发生率居数“？)。是在哪儿？ （@user3306356:对不起，谢谢！）
goPlayerJuggler
<word-choice><mandarin><difference><colors>
Has 咖啡色 replaced 茶色 in everyday use for "brown", or can I use both?
# Has 咖啡色 replaced 茶色 in everyday use for "brown", or can I use both?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-27)

I've learned that 咖啡色 now is the most common way of saying "brown". **Does that mean that saying 茶色 now is outdated, and not used any more, or are both words still used?**

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Would also be interesting to know if these are considered to be the same color, or if there is indeed a difference between what shade of brown they are used to describe.

**Tags:** word-choice, mandarin, difference, colors

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: see frequency numbers, note different types of brown: bkrs： **茶色**  dark brown; tawny 一种比栗色稍红的棕橙色至浅棕色 fr.#41251 syn.褐, 栗色, 褐色  **咖啡色**  coffee color，brown 深棕色 fr. #25730 syn.驼色  **驼色**  camel; colour of camel's hair; light tan 如骆驼毛一般的浅棕色,fr.#57740 syn. 咖啡色  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Interesting! Where did you get the frequency numbers from? Is there a good online source?  
> **username_1**: Chinese-Russian/English dictionary:   https://bkrs.info/  
> **username_2**: omg!for years I thought brown is 棕色!!do we share a same colour of the world?  
> **username_3**: @username_1 make that an answer!  
> **username_1**: as readers of online stories can confirm 褐色(#17405) seems more common than either of the above, e.g. the first 2 stories of the collection of Alfred Hitchcock short stories http://www.my285.com/zt/xqkek/index.htm both contain one instance of 褐色 爱神无顾：路茜小姐看到他  **褐色** 的皮肤，奇特的双眼，还有一种深沉温和的耐心。百叶窗：他有一个双下巴，一双温和的 **褐色** 的眼睛，浓浓的眉毛。  
> **username_4**: @user3306356 我在bkrs.info里搜索了коричневый，是俄语翻译 brown的词。但是没看到了frequency numbers (”发生率居数“？)。是在哪儿？  
> **username_3**: @username_4 I think you mean username_1, not me.  
> **username_4**: @username_1 我在bkrs.info里搜索了коричневый，是俄语翻译 brown的词。但是没看到了frequency numbers (”发生率居数“？)。是在哪儿？ （@user3306356:对不起，谢谢！）  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-01-27. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Their colors are similar and close. Usually, 茶色 is short of 茶叶色(color of red tea) and used for glass. For example, 茶色玻璃. Well, 咖啡色 is usually used for other objects. Like, 咖啡色皮夹克. But it's not wrong if replace one with the other in any case.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2018-03-01. Score: 1

I’ve always thought the formal way to indicate the colour brown was with “棕色”, which I had picked up through text. In everyday speech while growing up, my family had always used “咖啡色”. In Cantonese, we would say “啡色”.


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