XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: Gordon@freeman.invalid   
      
   "Michael F. Stemper"  wrote:   
      
   > On 2018-02-14 21:21, Stan Brown wrote:   
   >> On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:06:21 -0600, Michael F. Stemper wrote:   
   >   
   >>> The Rangers are described as being "darker than the Men of Bree".   
   >>   
   >> I think that refers to hair and eyes, not skin tone. It's dark as   
   >> opposed to fair, not dark as opposed to white.   
   >   
   > Would you be willing to explain your reasoning? Is this just a case of   
   > British English versus American English? Because I've never heard   
   > anyone say "so-and-so is dark/fair/white" to mean "so-and-so has   
   > dark/fair/ white hair".   
      
   At least in the UK, the phrase "tall dark stranger" is usually taken to   
   refer to hair colour not skin colour, though maybe that is changing due   
   to the country becoming multicultural.   
      
   The OED entry for "dark" says:   
      
   "(of a person) with deep brown or black hair, complexion, or skin."   
      
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