My guy is reading a Patricia Cornwell novel at the mo and last night he asked me what on earth a 'tow head' was! I had never heard of it before so I looked it up in the OED but, alas, to no avail.
The character in the book was telling her fictional partner that she had seen several young guys at the beach and she said that all of them 'looked like tow heads'?
Anybody got any ideas?
Cheers in non-arrears!
2007-09-04 21:54:38 · 12 answers · asked by Tatsbabe 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Thankyou very much everyone! I genuinely have never heard this expression before which is a little strange in itself actually. Considering that I AM blonde (yes I know!) and my guy is blonde and our two kids are this almost white blond so many of you mention, you would think it would be a phrase that I would have encountered a long time ago!
Oh and by the way - I do know how to use a search engine, thank you! It is just that if I look a word up in my enormous OED and there is no mention of it, I tend to disbelieve in it's existence!
2007-09-04 22:30:25 · update #1
A person with very light (almost white) blond hair, "tow" being flax or hemp fibers. Tow-headed, along with fair(-haired) and flaxen-haired, is a tradional way in the English language to refer to blond hair or lightly-colored hair, having come from its old Germanic roots
2007-09-04 21:59:17 · answer #1 · answered by bonkzee 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
tow head
53 up, 9 down
tow headed is literally "flaxen haired". This meaning of tow comes from Middle Low German touw (which means "flax, hemp fiber"). This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tow-, *taw "make, prepare" (source also of English tool), in the sense "make yarn from wool; spin".
he's a real tow head
2007-09-05 04:58:40 · answer #2 · answered by Keith 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
tow headed is literally "flaxen haired". This meaning of tow comes from Middle Low German touw (which means "flax, hemp fiber"). This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tow-, *taw "make, prepare" (source also of English tool), in the sense "make yarn from wool; spin".
OR
A person with very light (almost white) blond hair, "tow" being flax or hemp fibers. Tow-headed, along with fair(-haired) and flaxen-haired, is a tradional way in the English language to refer to blond hair or lightly-colored hair, having come from its old Germanic roots (which are quite rare).
This answer was very easy to come buy. Try using google when you have questions like this. they often have the asnwer. And if you are into linguistics and what not, www.urbandictionary.com has lots of definitions for slang terminology like this phrase.
;-)
2007-09-05 05:03:07 · answer #3 · answered by Jewls 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hi
Please see below
tow headed is literally "flaxen haired". This meaning of tow comes from Middle Low German touw (which means "flax, hemp fiber"). This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tow-, *taw "make, prepare" (source also of English tool), in the sense "make yarn from wool; spin".
Regards
John
2007-09-05 05:05:15 · answer #4 · answered by g1htl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tow head means blonde hair which is so blonde it looks white
2007-09-05 05:01:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a tow head is a blonde, very blonde, almost white
2007-09-05 04:57:54 · answer #6 · answered by Scorpius59 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use the Urban dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tow-head
Young children with blonde hair are often called tow-heads,
2007-09-05 05:05:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Very blonde hair--not a suprising look for guys on the beach, especially surfers...
2007-09-05 05:16:49 · answer #8 · answered by zz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You ever seen Whitey in Me Myself and Irene ,,,,,,,Tow Head!!
2007-09-05 05:04:11 · answer #9 · answered by Shawn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think a towhead is a person with light blond hair.
2007-09-05 05:00:51 · answer #10 · answered by UgLy M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋