Red is Hot and Blue is Cold

Taps in Okanagan College washroom

It is standards like this, red for hot and blue for cold, that stops people from getting scalded in the bathroom. (Don't get me started on the whole washroom, bathroom, toilet discussion.)

Of course the other part of the standardization, or lack thereof, is the positioning. Is hot on the left or right? In the audio and video worlds red is used to indicate the cables for the right channel, while for sailors red indicates the port (left) side of the ship.

But regardless of whether red is left or right, it seems to be a fairly standard designation for hot. And that should help my young daughter to avoid scalding herself in unfamiliar bathrooms.