Slur of the Day: 中國人
- Chinaman
- found offensive, although it is a translation of the Chinese 中國人. It was used in the gold rush and railway-construction eras in western North America, when discrimination against Chinese was common.[38] Though widely used historically without offensive intent, the term today generates controversy when still used in geographic places associated with or resembling Chinese. Fowler’s Dictionary of English Usage as late as 1956 describes it as the term for a Chinese person, whereas the term Chinese was only used as an adjective for things. Though it is widely used as an ironic self-reference by many North Americans of Chinese descent, and is still heard in the lyrics to the 1970s song “Kung Fu Fighting” and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift movie song “Tokyo Drift” by the Teriyaki Boyz, it tends to generate objections in modern times, especially in the US where Asian-American is the preferred nomenclature.
(Note that in cricket, the term “chinaman” is used in a non-ethnic sense to refer to a left-handed bowler who uses a wrist spin action, and that a chinaman was also a type of 18th and 19th C. merchant ship, or a dealer in china ware.)
Tags: Misc.
Posted 14 Nov 2012 by theaveeditor
in Misc.