Sanguine v. Incarnadine

Effete left me a little bored today, so I went into my bank of other words that I've wanted to explore.

Sanguine v. Incarnadine

I probably should have saved these words for Valentine's Day, Christmas, some election, or another "red" day, but I was intrigued. They both mean blood red, but sanguine derives from "sanguis" (blood), while incarnadine derives from "carne" (meat, flesh). Thus, incarnadine or being made of flesh, can be both blood red and the fleshy pink color, making it very hard for interior designers to know what color is intended, while sanguine only ever means blood red, or cheerfully optimistic (as from an abundance of the blood humor from Medieval medicine and also gives us "bloodthirsty" Plaintiff's counsels). Whether sanguine is a sanguine color remains to be seen. Bulls don't seem to think so, but the Chinese do. And incarnadine as a color depends on how rare you like your steak. I'll take mine medium, which may already be a color in my basement, but I would hardly describe my skin color as incarnadine more than pale or anemic.