Doesnt seem right, but is there even another name for it? I have only known it as Chinese fire drill.
I guess that it's negatively attributing a state of chaos and disorder to being Chinese.
I was thinking that too.
That’s awful advice bud. Someone can record your ass anywhere now. In 4K
Good explanation, but he already knew why.
No, not really.
www.npr.org
Is it? It's not literally how the Chinese or anyone else practice a fire drill. It was originally used to describe a situation where a translational misunderstanding led to an actual drill going awry.
🖐 to god I didn’t. Don’t see a problem with it at all. Quit crying about everything
That's what I thought. I didn't think it's somehow the greatest transgression ever, someone should be fired, etc. I just thought it was a weird and awkward and kinda racist (albeit rather low on the master list of potentially racist things to say) thing to throw out in a speech with a bunch of finance people, that did include Asians.
"Vehicular musical chairs"No, not really.
Starting around World War I, the descriptor "Chinese" began to be frequently added to phrases to describe situations that were confusing, incomprehensible and messy.
These included a "Chinese ace," which referred to an incompetent pilot; "Chinese national anthem," to describe an explosion; and "Chinese landing," which was used by pilots to refer to bumpy, dangerous touchdowns because the aircraft had "one wing low" (a cringeworthy joke about what Asian languages sound like that should sound a bit familiar). Interestingly, Chinese landing and the one wing low pun were both so entrenched in military lingo that they were included in the 1944 edition of The Official Guide To The Army Air Forces.
Note how all of the above phrases refer to things that are negative and inferior in some way. It's also important to remember that anti-Asian sentiments had existed in the United States for decades before World War I and that the United States government did everything it could to keep Chinese and other Asian immigrants off American shores. In fact, the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional Usage traces the first pejorative use of "Chinese" to around 1880.
The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese laborers like the ones who built the Transcontinental Railroad from immigrating to the United States for 10 years, and several other laws that followed were aimed at preventing Chinese people from entering the country. By 1924, these laws had extended to all Asians (a rule that was upheld until the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act).
After the two world wars, "Chinese" continued to be used as a descriptor to indicate things that were hasty, cheap or amateur. The late New York Times columnist William Safire noted in his book I Stand Corrected that in the 1940s and '50s "Chinese home runs" referred to home runs that were either high pop-ups or ones that exited the park just along the foul line. And schoolchildren used to play "Chinese whispers" instead of the game Telephone because the messages would quickly become garbled and lost along the way.
The phrase "Chinese fire drill" became popular once again with the military during the Vietnam War. In fact, several books written by former soldiers after the war used the phrase in their titles or descriptions of combat. In his 1967 book The New Legions, which was sharply critical of the war, Donald Duncan quotes a fellow soldier as saying, "It must have looked like a Chinese Fire Drill back on the river as the shooting started." A veteran quoted in Craig Howes' Voices of the VietnamPOWs also used the phrase while describing a particularly chaotic battle in August 1964. And the mystery writer Michael Wolfe titled his 1986 thriller about Vietnam-era POWs The Chinese Fire Drill.
Aside from the occasional reference to the car prank, the phrase "Chinese fire drill" has mostly faded from everyday use today. Perhaps it is time to rename the 1960s-era prank? Suggestions are welcome in the comments.
What's So 'Chinese' About A Chinese Fire Drill?
For the uninitiated, a "Chinese fire drill" can be described as a form of vehicular musical chairs. Where did that name come from?
Meh whatever. Don’t see it as a race thing. More about a country. A country, mind you, that’s on a mission to destroy our influence worldwide. Let’s not soften ourselves up to avoid offending them.No, not really.
Starting around World War I, the descriptor "Chinese" began to be frequently added to phrases to describe situations that were confusing, incomprehensible and messy.
These included a "Chinese ace," which referred to an incompetent pilot; "Chinese national anthem," to describe an explosion; and "Chinese landing," which was used by pilots to refer to bumpy, dangerous touchdowns because the aircraft had "one wing low" (a cringeworthy joke about what Asian languages sound like that should sound a bit familiar). Interestingly, Chinese landing and the one wing low pun were both so entrenched in military lingo that they were included in the 1944 edition of The Official Guide To The Army Air Forces.
Note how all of the above phrases refer to things that are negative and inferior in some way. It's also important to remember that anti-Asian sentiments had existed in the United States for decades before World War I and that the United States government did everything it could to keep Chinese and other Asian immigrants off American shores. In fact, the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional Usage traces the first pejorative use of "Chinese" to around 1880.
The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese laborers like the ones who built the Transcontinental Railroad from immigrating to the United States for 10 years, and several other laws that followed were aimed at preventing Chinese people from entering the country. By 1924, these laws had extended to all Asians (a rule that was upheld until the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act).
After the two world wars, "Chinese" continued to be used as a descriptor to indicate things that were hasty, cheap or amateur. The late New York Times columnist William Safire noted in his book I Stand Corrected that in the 1940s and '50s "Chinese home runs" referred to home runs that were either high pop-ups or ones that exited the park just along the foul line. And schoolchildren used to play "Chinese whispers" instead of the game Telephone because the messages would quickly become garbled and lost along the way.
The phrase "Chinese fire drill" became popular once again with the military during the Vietnam War. In fact, several books written by former soldiers after the war used the phrase in their titles or descriptions of combat. In his 1967 book The New Legions, which was sharply critical of the war, Donald Duncan quotes a fellow soldier as saying, "It must have looked like a Chinese Fire Drill back on the river as the shooting started." A veteran quoted in Craig Howes' Voices of the VietnamPOWs also used the phrase while describing a particularly chaotic battle in August 1964. And the mystery writer Michael Wolfe titled his 1986 thriller about Vietnam-era POWs The Chinese Fire Drill.
Aside from the occasional reference to the car prank, the phrase "Chinese fire drill" has mostly faded from everyday use today. Perhaps it is time to rename the 1960s-era prank? Suggestions are welcome in the comments.
What's So 'Chinese' About A Chinese Fire Drill?
For the uninitiated, a "Chinese fire drill" can be described as a form of vehicular musical chairs. Where did that name come from?
Can you articulate what negative connotation people are exemplifying when they refer to something as "Mexican food?"
If you’re going to scream racist, which, as a bleeding liberal, you’ll do several times a day, you should at least understand the true meaning.
I love how easy it is for those not in the group being disparaged to say it's nothing to "get worked up over."
Again, you pontificate when the definition has not been met. It’s no more racist than the cheering of Russians dying in Ukraine.
Sure buddy.
i'll be sure to tell my coworker who has an intellectually disabled brother to stop looking for stuff to get angry over. if you are actively using retard in '22 you suck and lack compassion/empathy.
Not racist. No Japanese fire drill because the Japanese don’t fit the mold. Same race, or no?? Racist or no? Where did you go to school?
Reading.
You have your three stock comments locked & loaded. Rinse & repeat. Never bring anything new to the table.
That’s fantastic information. Every bit of it is irrelevant to the OPs question. Simple question, and you continue to try making a point where a point cannot be made. It is not racist to talk about a country. Never will be. Sorry
The truth cannot be controversial.
