TAR BABY


Meaning of TAR BABY in English

■ noun informal, chiefly US a difficult problem which is only aggravated by attempts to solve it.

Origin

with allusion to the doll smeared with tar as a trap for Brer Rabbit, in J. C. Harris's Uncle Remus .

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.