Entry · catalog no. 9203
pink toes
/ /ˈpɪŋk toʊz/ /PINK TOHZ
noun · Harlem, New York City · 1940s
✓ Verified
1.
Harlem slang of the 1930s and 1940s for a light-skinned Black woman, usually said in admiration or desire. The word carries the colorism of its day, in which lighter skin was ranked above darker.
“He only had eyes for the pink toes at the end of the bar.”
Origin & Attribution
Zora Neale Hurston recorded the term in the glossary of her 1942 essay "Story in Harlem Slang," defining it as a "yellow girl," alongside other terms for Black women and skin tone. The usage belongs to Harlem's 1930s–40s nightlife and speech, and to the long record of color hierarchy inside and outside the community that also produced "high yellow" and "good hair." It is documented here as period slang, not as current usage.
1942
Zora Neale Hurston records "pink toes" in her Harlem slang glossary
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Harlem, New York City · 1940s
Spoken by
Black Harlemites of the Depression and wartime years
$PINKTOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Historical84 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
8/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1942
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
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Citations & Sources
■
+ Cite a sourceZora Neale Hurston, "Story in Harlem Slang," The American Mercury (July 1942), glossary
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See also