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'Lieutenant Sandridge turned a beautiful couleur de rose through his ordinary strawberry complexion, tucked the letter in his hip pocket, and chewed off the ends of his gamboge moustache."
I posted about this not long ago, but have forgotten what it meant. Please pardon my conceit in thinking you have too.
GAMBOGE
Pronunciation: gam'bowj
Matching Terms: gamboge tree, Gambogian
WordNet Dictionary
Definition: [n] a strong yellow color
[n] a gum resin used as a yellow pigment and a purgative
Synonyms: lemon, lemon yellow, maize
See Also: gum resin, yellow, yellowness
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Why not just say 'yellow moustache'? I don't think 'gamboge' adds anything here...other than showing that the writer possessed a smarty-butt (hi, Consuelo!) word.
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O.Henry was very well read, and had a very large vocabulary.
Which like the rest of us, he enjoyed showing off.
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With all due respect shown to Mr. Henry, I think in this instance the use of 'gamboge' covers more than it should--unless, of course, the narrator is trying to tell us more about this gamboge-moustached character than I know since I haven't read this story...least I don't think I have!
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Well, the definition does say a strong yellow. Perhaps O. Henry thought gamboge was more precise than just yellow.
Bingley
Bingley
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But he was also showing off his scholarship to impress
his vocabulary challenged readership. And they loved it.
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