What do you think of the word "sallow"?

[Corolla]

I have what I would consider sallow skin, by which I mean sort of the yellow side of olive! I don't think of "sallow" as a complimentary word.

Yet recently I've come across it being used in a flattering sense, eg "beautiful sallow skin". How do you interpret it?

Petrova Fossil has Russian parentage I think.

So does it just mean “visibly not English?” Could it be a literary shorthand for lending the hero or heroine some exotic and fascinating history?

Around this era, there was a haute bohemian mania for a quasi-religious philosophy called Theosophy which blended beliefs from all the world’s religions. Queen Victoria’s Indian godchildren also married Europeans around this time. You can see how writers may have wanted to experiment with the exoticism of marriage between ethnic groups, and orphaned children were a good conduit for doing that - you might loathe the idea of inter-racial marriage but you have to have natural sympathy for an orphan?

Sorry to have diverted this discussion into a book group OP!

@BlackCakeyStuff

Where in Scotland are the people who think it's a compliment? I'm a 50 something in Glasgow and I've never heard that before.

I'm in Glasgow too! I'm in my 20s but I've heard it said by people older than me in work. I hope I've never offended anyone by mentioning that they're sallow skinned not that I say it very often, but still!

Sallow would mean you look unhealthy and sour to me

To second what other posters have said, Ive heard lots of Irish people use it as a compliment, ie lovely sallow skin if someone tans easily or has an olive glow. Definitely in a positive way.

@Unfucked

Around this era, there was a haute bohemian mania for a quasi-religious philosophy called Theosophy which blended beliefs from all the world’s religions. Queen Victoria’s Indian godchildren also married Europeans around this time. You can see how writers may have wanted to experiment with the exoticism of marriage between ethnic groups, and orphaned children were a good conduit for doing that - you might loathe the idea of inter-racial marriage but you have to have natural sympathy for an orphan?

Sorry to have diverted this discussion into a book group OP!

@Unfucked don't be sorry, it's a fascinating discussion!

It's always the threads that you least expect to get much response that take off!