Article: KHAKI AND CHINO: THE MULTIFARIOUS MEANINGS; FOR THE PURIST ONLY, KHAKI IS STILL COLOR AND CHINO A POINT OF ORIGIN.

NEW YORK -- Any native of India or Pakistan can tell you that "khaki" means "dust" or "dust colored" in the native Urdu or Hindi tongue.

There are various accounts of the color's origin but it apparently all began with Lt. Harry Lumsden, a British officer stationed in India's Punjab in 1846. The most plausible story is that Lt. Lumsden observed that his troop of Sepoy Guides in Peshawar in their sparkling white cotton uniforms were too-obvious targets for enemy Afghan snipers and had the uniforms dyed dust-colored as camouflage.

Coming up with a more imaginative version, Lands' End ran a series of ads in 1998 which said that the starchy Lieutenant was ...

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