dot or feather

English

Alternative forms

• red dot or feather

Etymology

A reference to the bindi and the feathered war bonnet. First attested in a 1993 Vanity Fair article, where it is attributed to Gita Mehta.

Phrase

dot or feather?

1. (US, offensive) Used to inquire whether a person described as "Indian" is a Native American or from the Indian subcontinent.
   • 1993 May, Joan Juliet Buck, “A Mehta of Style”, in Vanity Fair, page 162:

     Oddly, the only bons mots that this crowd can recall all have to do with India: Kenneth Jay Lane cites her “Indian? Dot or feather?” and others come up with puns about Chutney Marys and Chutney Miras or quick jokes about pujas.