Can you provide the sentence/statement? Il est ou c’est quoi ?

I had the same reaction as you, Carol.  Trying to understand it better now.  Maybe referring to the colour "le violet" is more general than if I point to something that colour and say "this colour", which would be specific.  For example, we are buying clothes, I hold a blue shirt in one hand and a red shirt in the other and I say "Tu aimes le bleu?".  You might say "Il est joli!"   But if instead, we gaze at a rack of shirts and I ask the simple question "Le bleu?".  A correct answer could be "Oui, c'est joli!".   It is a challenging question.