hunting pink

English

Etymology

Theories that the phrase derived from a tailor called Pink appear to be folk etymology. For further discussion see here (archived from the original).

Noun

hunting pink (countable and uncountable, plural hunting pinks)

1. Scarlet, as worn by fox-hunters.
   • 2005, Paul B Dunn, A Stroll Through Fitzgerald, ThomasMax, published 2005, page 42:

     Don't imagine elegant British foxhounds and mounted hunters dressed in their “hunting pink”. South Georgia foxhunts were just a bit different, Paul says.

2. (in the plural) The traditional scarlet jacket and related attire worn by fox-hunters.
   • 1965, Jan Morris, Oxford, OUP, published 2001, page 109:

     the open-fronted and unbuttonable surplices worn by Christ Church men in chapel were designed, tradition says, so that hunting pinks could not be concealed beneath them.