Red for Anger

I think Donald Norman put out some interesting points about how something that is attractive may be simpler to use. I never really thought about how my emotions can be influenced by what I see or hear, or really thought to apply that concept to designing. I've always known that certain colors can evoke emotions - CVS employees used to always wear red, but changed over to blue shirts because they thought red provoked anger, though I still get flippant when they take forever to fill a prescription - and that certain sounds or smells can make me cringe, but I never thought that these elements could make carrying out a task easier, at least on the web.

I sort of have to agree that his comments on language and how the sound of a word can make it attractive or unattractive is a bit of a stretch, but I understand what he's getting at. I think if one studies linguistics they may be able to explain the concept better. I would say that if you consider some curse words, do you feel so happy when you hear them, especially that ones that have a hard consonant (I'm thinking of the f and c bombs)? I don't get that warm, fuzzy feeling when I hear them.