On page 1 of
PNIN) we read ”His sloppy socks were of scarlet wool with
lilac lozenges; his conservative black Oxfords had cost him about as much as all
the rest of his clothing (flamboyant goon tie included)
The phrase is in the second paragraph of VN’s PNIN. I
trust every heavy-weight VN aficionado has pondered the meaning (and
significance, if any) of
Pnin’s “flamboyant goon tie.”
There is a line of clothing
apparel (Cornell Big Red Ties)
for school sports fans that
at one time (but apparently no longer) included red neckties. Several, if not all, Cornell sports teams are called “Big Red” and
their uniforms are red.
The term “goon” remains obscure but was apparently a slang
term with the definition “(ice hockey,
pejorative) An enforcer or fighter” {presumably applied to the team
Cornell was playing against).
Nabokovian SCHOLARSHIPmarches on!
D. Barton Johnson