off-color

[ awf-kuhl-er, of- ]

/ ˈɔfˈkʌl ər, ˈɒf- /

not having the usual or standard color: an off-color gem.

of doubtful propriety or taste; risqué: an off-color joke.

not in one's usual health: to feel off-color.

Also especially British, off-col·our. Also off-col·ored (for defs 1, 2).

Origin of off-color

First recorded in 1855–60

2 racy, spicy, salty, earthy, blue.

Their job is to fire you up, whether via jaw-dropping sports highlight or off-color pronouncement.

ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Pricks |Marlow Stern |July 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, Farage has been slammed for his own off-color remarks about Romanians.

Elections Could Be the Beginning of the End for Europe |Tracy McNicoll, Nadette De Visser |May 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The n-word might out of bounds, but an off-color comment, racial in tone?

Why Reality Stars Like Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson Can’t Be Real |Tricia Romano |December 20, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Over his long career, Rush Limbaugh has suffered astonishingly little blowback for off-color remarks.

Racism Is a Tough Sell: The Real Reason Everyone Dumped Paula Deen |Daniel Gross |June 28, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

But this is what Edwards has been relegated to: a morbid curiosity, a cautionary tale, a punchline to off-color jokes.

Edwards’s Life in Exile |Michelle Cottle |June 20, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Take away these off-color peaches and bring me something first class.

Jupiter Lights |Constance Fenimore Woolson
A thing to be forgotten always is the off-color story with which some people persist in polluting the atmosphere.

The Book of Courage |John Thomson Faris
The painted stone may be detected by washing it with alcohol, when the dye will be removed and the off-color will become apparent.

A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public |Frank Bertram Wade
Wherever three or four men are gathered together, they rapidly organize a clearing-house of off-color stories.

Excuse Me! |Rupert Hughes
He tried to tell me an off-color story and forgot the point of it, if indeed it had any point.

Europe Revised |Irvin S. Cobb