Tar baby
A tar baby is an idiom/euphemism that refers to an unfortunate situation that just gets worse for one's attempts to extricate oneself from it.
The phrase comes from one of the Uncle Remus stories compiled by Joel Chandler Harris in the 19th century. Br'er Bear[1] and Br'er Fox play a trick on Br'er Rabbit by creating a mannequin out of tar, complete with clothes and a corn-cob pipe, and seat it by the side of the road. Br'er Rabbit comes by and says his usual "How de Do?". He gets no reply, and repeats the greeting. This angers him, since he is accustomed to the type of hospitality that was customary at the time. He finally becomes enraged and punches the tar baby. This just get him stuck in tar. He continues wrestling with the tar baby trying to teach it a lesson and extricate himself. The more he struggles, the more deeply enmeshed in the tar he becomes. In the end, he is completely covered with tar.
The Uncle Remus stories are from African-American slave culture, and date from a time when that culture was treated by white people in a manner that is not acceptable today. As such, the "tar baby" story, and the use of the term, are considered racist by today's standards. This is unfortunate, because, putting the racial issue aside, it is an extremely apt and descriptive term.
References
- ↑ The stories are told in a not-very-literate slave dialect, and "Br'er" (pronounced like "briar") means "brother"
