English
Etymology
Used in Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely (1940).
Noun
en-noun|sg=Harlem sunset
- context|US|noir|rare A fatal wound caused by a knife fight.
#*1940, w:Raymond Chandler|Raymond Chandler, w:Farewell, My Lovely|Farewell, A. A. Knopf (1940), p. 14,
#*:One time there was five smokes carved Harlem sunsets on each other down on East Eighty-four.
#*1972, Seamus Heaney, Soundings, Blackstaff Press (1972), p. 15,
#*:This wasn't some punk carving Harlem sunsets on a drugstore attendant. This was a professional job.
#*2004 February 1, Desdemona, "{ASSM} Rough Cut: Chap 1 by Desdmona (crime drama)", <tt>alt.sex.stories.moderated</tt>, Usenet,<sup>1</sup>
#*:The blade had been inches from showing Moe a Harlem sunset. A longer knife, or an extra twist, and Moe would've bled to death before the meat wagon arrived.
#*Richard E. Sall, Straightjacket, p. 38,
#*:We had some mean turf wars with rival Latino and Italian gangs, and I've still got the scars to prove it: one under my left eye from some Romano's chain, and one just to the right of my right shoulder blade from some bitch who tried to give me a Harlem sunset �yup, that can happen in Detroit, too.
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