Red skin

noun RED SKIN rɛd skɪn

Also spelled red, redskin, redde

A light-brown-skinned person — 'red' being the everyday Jamaican skin-tone term for a fair or reddish-brown complexion, between dark and very light. A 'red man' or 'red gyal' is light-skinned. The word sits within Jamaica's colourism, where lighter 'red' skin was historically (and unfairly) privileged; today it is used plainly as description, though the loaded history remains.

  • Him a red-skin man wid freckle.

    He's a light-skinned man with freckles.

  • She a pretty red gyal.

    She's a pretty light-skinned girl.

  • Di 'red skin' talk come from colourism.

    The 'red skin' idea comes from colourism.

  • Him a red man wid brown eye.

    He's a light-skinned man with brown eyes.

  • Di red gyal from up di road.

    The fair-skinned girl from up the road.

From 'red' (a Jamaican term for light-brown complexion) + 'skin'. See Browning, High colour.

A light-brown-skinned person ('red'); a colourism-laden skin-tone term. See Browning, High colour.