tar baby

See also: tarbaby

English

Etymology

Referring to a doll made of tar and turpentine to entrap Br'er Rabbit in one of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories, published 1881.

Noun

tar baby (plural tar babies)

1. (chiefly US) A difficult, abstract problem that worsens as one attempts to handle it.
   • 2009, Mitt Romney (speech in Ames, Iowa)

     "The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can."

2. (derogatory, ethnic slur) A black person.

Synonyms

• (difficult problem): hot potato, sticky wicket

See also

• hydra