Language substitution and Br'er Rabbit

[bcholmes]

In the US (and perhaps in Canada, too -- I don't know), the term "tar baby" has a racist history. I didn't always know this, but I seem to learn faster than, say, Republicans. Its non-racist connotation is sometimes a useful thing to describe: a situation that once you've gotten involved with it, it's next to impossible to extricate yourself. Is there a less problematic metaphor to use in that case?

Comments

[hellsop]

None that share that connotation of having gotten messy by messing with something that wasn't yours to mess with in the first place. "Kicking the hornet's nest" is close, but with speedy results instead of the slow, horrifying inevitability involved with the tar baby.