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"'Come, none o' that 'ere, old Strike-a-light,' interposed Mr.
Weller, elbowing himself into the front rank. 'Beg your pardon,
sir, but this here officer o' yourn in the gambooge tops, 'ull never
earn a decent livin' as a master o' the ceremonies any vere. This
here, sir' continued Mr. Weller,...."
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Gamboge \Gam*boge"\, n.
A concrete juice, or gum resin, produced by several species
of trees in Siam, Ceylon, and Malabar. It is brought in
masses, or cylindrical rolls, from Cambodia, or Cambogia, --
whence its name. The best kind is of a dense, compact
texture, and of a beatiful reddish yellow. Taking internally,
it is a strong and harsh cathartic and emetic. [Written also
camboge.]
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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It would be fascinating to see those rolls of tree gum. I would love to see a color photograph of such rolls.
Do you think the gamboge came from some connection between 'gam-' and gum?
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journeyman
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journeyman
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Obscure fact: Le Cambodge is the only country name in French that ends with an "e" and is masculine.
"Gum" is "gomme" in French and "gummi" in Latin, from Greek "kommi".
Cambodge/Cambodia are versions of the indigenous name "Kampuchea", the meaning and origin of which I don't know.
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This is just a little riff on what might have been, but wasn't:
Let's say Cambodia did derive from a word that meant 'land of the gum trees,' then we could modernize the name and call it Gumbodia.
But thanks, hibernicus, for the more correct explanation.
And I enjoyed reading and thinking about your obscure fact. It has been very, very long since I studied French; I have forgotten most of what I'd once learned. But, based on what you have written, L'Angleterre and L'Allemagne (not sure of spellings) would both be feminine, yes?
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I remembered "gummi" meaning rubber in German. I searched for "Gummischlauch" and here's what I got:
ENGLISH GERMAN
Direct Matches
rubber hose [tech.] der Gummischlauch
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Carpal Tunnel
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So Gummi Bears are just Rubber Bears, yes? Bon soir, wwh! 
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Pooh-Bah
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I like the ribbed gummis.
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I think they call them Gummi Worms.
You are soooooooo bad, Dr. Bill!!
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journeyman
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journeyman
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I like the ribbed gummis.
Any particular flavour?
(You are talking about Gummi Bears, right?)
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journeyman
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journeyman
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L'Angleterre and L'Allemagne (not sure of spellings) would both be feminine, yes?
They would indeed! And both correctly spelled to boot. But watch out for "Canada" - it ends in "a" but it's masculine: "le Canada", "au Canada".
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