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touch of the tar brush. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
touch of the tar brush, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
Believed to be of British origin.
Pronunciation
Noun
touch of the tar brush (plural touches of the tar brush)
- (informal) Real or suspected African or Asian distant ancestry in a person of predominantly Caucasian ancestry; mixed racial heritage (e.g. Afro-Caribbean or, to a lesser extent, South Asian in background or appearance).
- Synonym: lick of the tarbrush
1936, Agatha Christie, Murder in Mesopotamia, page 30:She was quite young—not more than about twenty-five—and sort of dark and slinky-looking, if you know what I mean. Quite nice-looking in a kind of way, but rather as though she might have what my mother used to call "a touch of the tar-brush."
Usage notes
- Not generally used for people that are unambiguously and distinctly of mixed race.