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.