A test to determine whether women can go braless in public. The tester lifts a breast, places a pencil under it, and releases the breast. If the pencil falls down, she can go braless (under a shirt, of course). If the pencil is held in place by the weight of her breast, she should wear a bra.
by Sprvxn December 31, 2006
In the days of racial segregation in Africa, people of mixed races, or those who looked like they were of mixed race were subjected to the penicl test to decide what race they were. A pencil was placed in thier hair, and should it fall through they were classified as white, and were given the priveliges that were assocciated with white people. Should the pencil not fall through thier hair, they were classified as black and treated as such.
The pencil test was humiliating, and even if someone were to be classified as white, they would still not be totally accepted, and would instead be refered to as 'coloured'.
by Kung-Fu Jesus April 18, 2004
The Pencil Test is a test to determine if a woman needs a bra or not.
If the woman can hold a pencil under her Breast without dropping it, then they fail the test and therefore need a bra.
If the woman can hold a pencil under her Breast without dropping it, then they fail the test and therefore need a bra.
Drew Barrymore should of tried the Pencil Test before the 2006 Grammy Awards. She would of failed it, and then she would of known that she should've worn one.
by Quick Reply January 19, 2006
In animation, a pencil test is a movie made from the original rough pencil drawings. Pencil tests are made so that animators can see what their animation looks like in motion before the drawings get sent off to be inked and painted and eventually shown in the finished movie.
Animation students generally don't go past the pencil test stage while learning the trade.
Animation students generally don't go past the pencil test stage while learning the trade.
John: "Mike, your pencil test came out all crappy and wiggly."
Mike: "At least I have time to re-work it before class."
Mike: "At least I have time to re-work it before class."
by ahnimaytour October 20, 2009
a way to see if u are black put a pencil in yous hair if it get caught and dont fall out (and its ur naturual hair ) u are black
hey jim my mom said ive got black in me how do i know for sure . jim says take the pencil test well grow ur hair out and put a pencil in it if it gets caught in ur hair ur black
by adam nicolia August 25, 2008
The Native pencil test decreed anyone with curly hair to be non-American Indian due to the straight hair myth enforced by white colonizers and Siberian Native Americans; however, melanated American Indian people with curls were oppressed by use of being deemed Black and misnomered by whites based on the fact that many Natives did not carry the straight hair gene. White people and Hollywood media utilized psychological warfare, only wanting to promote one hair trait, and did so for centuries, causing loss of culture and birthright for many full-blooded American Indians until now. Curly hair does not come from having an admixture of African or White blood; many full and close-to-full-blood melanated American Indians carry the curly hair gene, so for those ignorant folks out there stating otherwise, STOP pulling the “ADMIXTURE CARD” just because your closed and confused minds refuse to see the truth that melanated American Indians have more than one physical trait, which cannot be suppressed any longer by anyone who is biased to it simply due to their hate or misinformation. Truth is truth, so respect it.
The Native American pencil test all started when An american indian child in Robeson County, NC who had the exact same MATERNAL AND PATERNAL parents as their sibling was deemed not to be Native because they had curls and their (sibling) who had the very same mother and father as this child had the opposite, straight hair.
A physical anthropologist was also sent to determine the racial ancestry and degree of “Indian blood” of Robeson’s Indians. Both anthropologists used “scientifically based” means to determine the authenticity of physical features and blood type to ascertain if any of those tested would qualify as having half or more “Indian blood.” An example of the scientific means used to assess “Indianness” was the “pencil test. A pencil was slipped into a subject’s hair. If the pencil stayed after mild to vigorous shaking of the head, the subject’s hair was deemed too tight or “non-Indian.” If the pencil fell, it was understood to have fallen out of real Indian hair. OUT OF 209 LUMBEE INDIVIDUALS TESTED, 22 WERE CATEGORIZED BY SELTZER AS “INDIANS” (SELTZER 1936). In one particular instance of two full siblings, sharing the same parents, one was deemed to be Indian and the other non-Indian (Blu 1980:72).”
A physical anthropologist was also sent to determine the racial ancestry and degree of “Indian blood” of Robeson’s Indians. Both anthropologists used “scientifically based” means to determine the authenticity of physical features and blood type to ascertain if any of those tested would qualify as having half or more “Indian blood.” An example of the scientific means used to assess “Indianness” was the “pencil test. A pencil was slipped into a subject’s hair. If the pencil stayed after mild to vigorous shaking of the head, the subject’s hair was deemed too tight or “non-Indian.” If the pencil fell, it was understood to have fallen out of real Indian hair. OUT OF 209 LUMBEE INDIVIDUALS TESTED, 22 WERE CATEGORIZED BY SELTZER AS “INDIANS” (SELTZER 1936). In one particular instance of two full siblings, sharing the same parents, one was deemed to be Indian and the other non-Indian (Blu 1980:72).”
by Stargazer1411 August 11, 2025