stinky pinky

A rhyming epithet, such as glad dad for a happy father, or wild child for an uncontrollable youngster.

Made up of an adjective and a rhyming noun, a stinky pinky is a type of rhyming compound that functions as a playful definition.

As a word game, stinky pinky goes by various names, including hink pink, hank pank, wordy gurdy, and brain train.

See also:

• Logology
• Riddle
• Rhyming Compound
• Ten Titillating Types of Sound Effects in Language
• Verbal Play
• Word Play

Examples and Observations:

• 50 Stinky Pinkies
  an artificial body of water = fake lake
  a bashful insect = shy fly
  a bed on fire = hot cot
  a better cafe = finer diner
  a better knife = nicer slicer
  a boxer who has lost weight = lighter fighter
  a cautious bird = wary canary
  cerebral overwork = brain strain
  the chief of police = top cop
  a chubby kitty = fat cat
  colored lemonade = pink drink
  a dark-colored sled dog = dusky husky
  a deceased Marxist = dead red
  dehydrated soup = chowder powder
  a dismal chorus = dire choir
  a ditch in Paris = French trench
  a fast elevator = swift lift
  the funniest joke = best jest
  an explosion in a hen house = gizzard blizzard
  a fanatical slave = zealot helot
  a fat fish - stout trout
  a fuzzy fruit - hairy berry
  a greased hen = slick chick
  a group yell = team scream
  a grumpy mountaintop = cynical pinnacle
  a happier small dog = merrier terrier
  a holiday in Panama = isthmus Christmas
  the home of a small rodent = mouse house
  an impolite man = rude dude
  an inactive flower = lazy daisy
  an ink-stained little finger = inky pinky
  a large toupee = big wig
  permission to take something away = removal approval
  a rabbit that makes you laugh = funny bunny
  a sensible pupil = prudent student
  a skinny little horse = bony pony
  a smarter author = brighter writer
  a smelly finger = stinky pinky
  a smiling father = happy pappy
  a Snickers bar dropped on the beach = sandy candy
  a strange looking goatee = weird beard
  a superior pullover = better sweater
  a supervisor in a bad mood = cross boss
  a suspicious looking clergyman = sinister minister
  a tardy spouse = late mate
  a temperate youngster = mild child
  a tiny insect = wee bee
  a useful rule = effective directive
  a wet puppy = soggy doggy
  a young cat in love = smitten kitten



• Shawn Colvin on the Stinky-Pinky Game
  "To play Stinky Pinky, you thought of an adjective and a noun that rhymed, hence the name 'Stinky Pinky,' and described the thing without rhyming in order to challenge the other players to guess your Stinky Pinky. You started out simply; a 'farm animal's sea vessel' would naturally be a 'goat boat,' and so forth, although single-syllable answers were called 'Stink-Pinks,' two-syllables 'Stinky Pinkys,' and of course three-syllable rhymes were 'Stinkity-Pinkitys.' One of my father's favorite words to rhyme was 'gherkin,' as in 'pickle.' Dad thought of a loitering pickle--a 'lurkin' gherkin'--a saucy pickle--a 'smirkin' gherkin'--a busy pickle--a 'workin' gherkin.'"
  (Shawn Colvin, Diamond in the Rough: A Memoir. William Morrow, 2012)



• Stinky Pinkies in the 1940s
  "Atlanta subdebs [teenage girls] have a little patois somewhat like old Pig Latin which they call Stinky Pinky. It contains words like Super-Snooper (a G-man), Flyer-Higher (an aviator), Snooty-Beauty (a debutante), Hen-Pen (a girls' school), Jug-Mug (a man in jail), and Silly Filly (a young girl)."
  ("Subdebs." Life magazine, January 27, 1941)



• A Double Stinky Pinky
  "A stinky pinky is a rhyming pair of words; one gives a paraphrase and the challenge is to recover the stinky pinky. I believe Paul [Halmos] is responsible for the following excellent double stinky pinky. Give a stinky pinky for an inebriated scoundrel. Answers: a drunk skunk or a plastered bastard."
  (Irving Kaplansky, "Reminiscences." Paul Halmos: Celebrating 50 Years of Mathematics, ed. by John H. Ewing and F.W. Gehring. Springer-Verlag, 1991)