Toe Head??

Can anyone tell me why people call light haired kids a "toe head"??

Our 4 week old's hair is turning blonde and we have heard people call light haired kids "toe heads" and we are curious where that phrase came from... any clues??

Toe Head??

It is Tow Headed

A person with very light (almost white) blond hair, "tow" being flax or hemp fibers. Tow-headed, along with fair(-haired) and flaxen-haired, is a traditional way in the English language to refer to blond hair or lightly-colored hair, having come from its old Germanic roots .

Toe Head??

Tow headed is literally "flaxen haired". This meaning of tow comes from Middle Low German touw (which means "flax, hemp fiber"). This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tow-, *taw "make, prepare" (source also of English tool), in the sense "make yarn from wool; spin".

A person with very light (almost white) blond hair, "tow" being flax or hemp fibers. Tow-headed, along with fair(-haired) and flaxen-haired, is a tradional way in the English language to refer to blond hair or lightly-colored hair, having come from its old Germanic roots (which are quite rare).

Toe Head??

'Toe head' should be 'tow head'. This is a US phrase and the reference to is to 'tow', which is the light-coloured fibre of flax, hemp, or jute. 'Tow-headed' is having tousled blond hair. This dates back to the 19th century and the OED has this entry:

1850 S. Judd " Bronze-faced and tow-headed Wild Olive boys."

A 'tow-head' is also the name for a sandbar or other obstruction on a river that causes ripples.

Toe Head??

Because if a baby has light hair or is bald and a little round head, they look like a toe. This is what my mother said.