Why does Sport the pimp have a long pink fingernail?
In Taxi Driver Sport is the pimp of the underage prostitute Iris. His right hand's little finger has a long, pink / reddish fingernail.
It's visible for example in his scene with Iris:
Why does he have that long pink fingernail?
Best Answer
It's called a coke nail and facilitates snorting cocaine.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis describes it in his 2004 memoir "Scar Tissue":
The night wouldn't be complete without cocaine, and it became a great sport to see how clandestinely you could consume your blow. The experienced coke hounds were easy to spot, because they all had the right-pinkie coke fingernail. They'd grow that pinkie at least a good half pinch past the finger and shape it perfectly, and that was the ultimate coke spoon of the time. My dad took great pride in his elaborately manicured coke nail.
Desmond Morris also mentions it in his 2008 book "The Naked Man: A study of the male body":
A more specialised function is connected with the drug trade, the long nail acting as a convenient, natural coke spoon for snorting the white powder up the nose.
Leslie Stern also writes about it on page 60 of "The Scorsese Connection" from 1995 when describing the movie scene with Iris:
We see him put on the record, his greasy hair, gaudy jewellery and garish coke fingernail, and we hear his guileful murmuring of love.
Sport has a long pink fingernail on his right hand's little finger because he is an experienced coke hound as Kiedis would say.
Pictures about "Why does Sport the pimp have a long pink fingernail?"
What does long pinky fingernail mean?
Historically, having at least one long nail is associated with being upper class - an indicator of wealth and elegance for a man. And, quite understandably, the little finger nail tends to be the one that's grown out for practical purposes - being the least used finger.Why do Chinese keep their pinky nail long?
Both men and women from the upper classes, especially literati, grew their nails long as a symbol of wealth: Long nails indicated that their owners did not have to do manual labor.Why do Cubans have a long pinky nail?
The long fingernail is a symbol of the Santeria religion, an Afro-Cuban religion that focuses around the worship of spirits.Why do Chinese Men Have Long Pinky Fingernails? #AskOTGW
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: SHVETS production, Tirachard Kumtanom, SHVETS production, SHVETS production