# Why pink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321 "2001-11-20T01:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SnowCat66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@SnowCat66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowCat66)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/1 "2001-11-20T01:22:12Z")
My mom, who speaks English as her second language, brought up this intriguing question posed by one of her former classmates. In English we have light green, light blue, light yellow, etc. So why do we call it pink instead of light red? ---
**Author:** ![RAWisSYDNEY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@RAWisSYDNEY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWisSYDNEY)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/2 "2001-11-20T05:41:14Z")
i think its just that it is a completely different red. Because put light blue next to blue (i know my words are a bit sketchy but bare with me) and you know they are related. But pink and red dont seem as ‘related’ as light blue and blue. if you know what i mean. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/3 "2001-11-20T05:44:20Z")
My best guess on the answer is this. What makes pink different from light blue, green, yellow, etc? What is there in nature that is important to us, that is pink or becomes pink? Well, for those of us with lighter skin, strong emotions cause blood to rush to our faces and turn us pink. Blushing, anger, love, or fever make a pale or tan skin go…pink. It’s very important to us as a species to be able to describe or think about someone’s facial expressions including their skin tone, because that’s an important social clue. The reason we have a word for pink that’s not related to red is so that we can differentiate between the concepts of red (someone is bleeding, has been fighting, etc.) and pink (blushing, angry, but not hurt). Of course, that’s my answer as a pasty-white person, your mileage may vary. Corr ---
**Author:** ![Snaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Snaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snaf)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/4 "2001-11-20T07:58:37Z")
Pink generally looks different to ‘light red’ because it has some blue in it - grab some paints, and in one spot mix white with red, and in another mix white with red and a smidge of blue. Adding the blue leads to a more ‘lolly’ or ‘candy’ pink than ‘light red’ produces. So one might argue pink is it’s own colour, considering it has darker shades such as magenta. We do have some other names for pale colours - lilac rather than light purple, mint rather than light green, lemon rather than light yellow, apricot rather than light orange. In those cases we’ve drawn names from nature. I’m aware of flowers called Pinks, but I guess they’re named for the colour 😉 Any etymologists to help us on the origin of the word ‘pink’ here? Snaf ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/5 "2001-11-20T09:13:28Z")
About color words in general, I suggest you see Cecil’s column about [Could early man only see three colors?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_168b.html). In it, you will notice that pink is one of the 11 basic color words of English. Not every language has the equivalent of pink as a basic color word, though. If you are really interested in basic color words, I suggest you read Berlin and Kay which Cecil refers to. If you can’t find it in the bookstore, the library probably has a copy. **SnowCat66** , what language is your mother’s native tongue? I can tell you if it’s covered specifically by B&K. About the etymology of pink, **Snaf** has it backwards. The color comes from the flower. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/6 "2001-11-20T13:53:08Z")
On a related topic, my father works as a Chemistry Professor in a college in South Africa and has a lot of African (from all over Southern Africa) students who consistently refer to the colour change that occurs in a Phenolphthalein titration (which turns a vibrant [pink colour](http://www.miamisci.org/ph/phenolphthalein.html)) as having turned “orange”. So it seems that there is some degree of colour definition or recognition that is culturally or linguistically based. Gp ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/7 "2001-11-20T22:19:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snaf \* > \*\*I’m aware of flowers called Pinks, but I guess they’re named for the colour \*\* IIRC It’s the other way around; the colour pink is named after the flower; I’ll try to find a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/8 "2001-11-20T22:33:58Z")
Here we go: [http://www.writersblock.ca/summer98/a-letter.htm](http://www.writersblock.ca/summer98/a-letter.htm) > [@](#): > > You might be surprised to hear that using the word “pink” to mean a light red colour is the newest meaning of the word. Pink is the common name for the flower dianthus, a relative of the carnation. It was considered to be a perfect flower, so expressions like “in the pink” really mean you’re as perfect as a dianthus, not that you’re pink in colour. One common colour of this flower is light red, so the colour pink was named after the flower. and [http://www.takeourword.com/Issue104.html](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue104.html) > [@](#): > > The pink which is a flower is so-called because its petals have jagged ends (as if they had been cut off with pinking shears). And the familiar color pink is named after the color of the flower. ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/9 "2001-11-20T22:44:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Here we go: > [http://www.writersblock.ca/summer98/a-letter.htm](http://www.writersblock.ca/summer98/a-letter.htm) > > > [@](#): > > > > You might be surprised to hear that using the word “pink” to mean a light red colour is the newest meaning of the word. Pink is the common name for the flower dianthus, a relative of the carnation. It was considered to be a perfect flower, so expressions like “in the pink” really mean you’re as perfect as a dianthus, not that you’re pink in colour. One common colour of this flower is light red, so the colour pink was named after the flower. > > and > [http://www.takeourword.com/Issue104.html](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue104.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > The pink which is a flower is so-called because its petals have jagged ends (as if they had been cut off with pinking shears). And the familiar color pink is named after the color of the flower. > > \*\* Well, maybe I’m wrong, but… in the pink would refer to either systems in, say, in aircraft or spacecraft, having to do with colors and marking used on instruments for indication; or it would refer to meters or measures that are marked within a desirable range for whatever it is they’re measuring (blood oxygen maybe?). The first seems more likely, though the second is possible. Maybe both. Maybe neither. This is entirely speculation. Correct me if I’m wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/10 "2001-11-20T22:49:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grelby \* > \*\*Well, maybe I’m wrong, but… in the pink would refer to either systems in, say, in aircraft or spacecraft, having to do with colors and marking used on instruments for indication; or it would refer to meters or measures that are marked within a desirable range for whatever it is they’re measuring (blood oxygen maybe?). The first seems more likely, though the second is possible. Maybe both. Maybe neither. This is entirely speculation. Correct me if I’m wrong! \*\* I thought the expression in those cases was that the instruments are reading ‘in the green’. ---
**Author:** ![SnowCat66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@SnowCat66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowCat66)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/11 "2001-11-21T00:49:38Z")
> [@](#): > > SnowCat66, what language is your mother’s native tongue? I can tell you if it’s covered specifically by B&K. Finnish- and you’ll note that the word for pink is “vaaleanpunainen” or “light red”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/12 "2001-11-21T01:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grelby \* > Well, maybe I’m wrong, but… in the pink would refer to either systems in, say, in aircraft or spacecraft, having to do with colors and marking used on instruments for indication; or it would refer to meters or measures that are marked within a desirable range for whatever it is they’re measuring (blood oxygen maybe?). The first seems more likely, though the second is possible. Maybe both. Maybe neither. This is entirely speculation. Correct me if I’m wrong! \*\* Aircraft instruments have 3 main colours: Red (no go areas) Yellow (caution areas) Green (safe operating areas) Blue and white are also used to indicate critical values such as airspeeds, but in my experience (yes I am a pilot) pink is not used (or if the colour does happen to be pink it’s still reffered to as red) and so the above is not likely to be the origins of “in the pink”. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/13 "2001-11-21T03:10:39Z")
Why does anybody care? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/14 "2001-11-21T03:27:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > \*\*Why does anybody care? \*\* Because: Pink it’s my new obsession Pink it’s not even a question, Pink on the lips of your lover, ‘cause Pink is the love you discover -‘Pink’, Aerosmith 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grelby)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/15 "2001-11-21T04:23:22Z")
Ya know, I was wondering about that… seemed odd to me that there would be pink instruments to mean “good.” Still, it was a theory :D. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skogcat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Grelby \* > > Well, maybe I’m wrong, but… in the pink would refer to either systems in, say, in aircraft or spacecraft, having to do with colors and marking used on instruments for indication; or it would refer to meters or measures that are marked within a desirable range for whatever it is they’re measuring (blood oxygen maybe?). The first seems more likely, though the second is possible. Maybe both. Maybe neither. This is entirely speculation. Correct me if I’m wrong! \*\* > > Aircraft instruments have 3 main colours: > > Red (no go areas) > Yellow (caution areas) > Green (safe operating areas) > > Blue and white are also used to indicate critical values such as airspeeds, but in my experience (yes I am a pilot) pink is not used (or if the colour does happen to be pink it’s still reffered to as red) and so the above is not likely to be the origins of “in the pink”. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-pink/94321/16 "2001-11-21T07:44:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnowCat66 \* > > > [@](#): > > > > SnowCat66, what language is your mother’s native tongue? I can tell you if it’s covered specifically by B&K. > > Finnish- and you’ll note that the word for pink is “vaaleanpunainen” or “light red”. Unfortunately, Berlin and Kay did not study Finnish color words, so I can’t tell you what stage they think the language is in. But from some web research ([here](http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~maclaury/colortypes.html)), it seems that Finnish is a stage VII language with 10 basic color terms: (the equivalents of) black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, orange, purple, and grey. (Stage VII languages have between 8 and 11 basic color terms.)