Chinamann.
/ˈtʃʌɪnəmən/, U.S. /ˈtʃaɪnəmən/α. 1600s– Chinaman.
β. (Apparently chiefly in sense 1). 1800s Cheenieman, 1800s Cheenyman, 1800s–1900s Chaneyman, 1800s– Chineyman, 1800s– Chinyman.
1. A man who is Chinese by descent, birth, or naturalization; (typically) a man born in China or of Chinese parents. Frequently depreciative or derogatory (see also John Chinaman n. at John n. Compounds 1a Johnny Chinaman n. at Johnny n. Compounds 2).Now likely to be considered offensive even when not used in an explicitly depreciative or derogatory manner; Chinese man is the normal expression in modern English.
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the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Asia > the Chinese > [noun] > native or inhabitant of China
Cathayan?1520
Chinean1577
Son of Heaven1579
Chino1588
chinois1594
Chinese1606
Chinesianc1615
Chinaman1621
China1638
Chinist1654
Chinensian1655
pigtail1823
celestial1842
Johnny1844
coolie1849
John1853
Chinky1871
chow1872
Chink1880
monk1903
Pong1910
power point1986
1621 T. Hackwell in B. Churchman Answere to Hollanders Declar. (1622) sig. Cv He knoweth that the Dutch at Iackatra, doe cause all China men, residing and bartering there, to pay monthly 6. shillings vppon a head, or else you shall not sell any commodity there to the English.
1691 Extraordinary Coll. Paintings sold by Auction 5th May 3 A China Man in Water-colours.
1788 G. Keate Acct. Pelew Islands iii. 24 He commanded a trading vessel belonging to a China man at Ternate.
1853 N.Y. Clipper 7 May 2/3 Much curiosity has been manifested during the past week at the appearance in our streets of a number of Chinamen, dressing in their native costume.
1876 R. W. Emerson Resources in Lett. & Social Aims 126 The disgust of California has not been able to drive nor kick the Chinaman back to his home.
1907 E. J. Hardy John Chinaman at Home viii. 95 A Chinaman always appears to be looking round the corner of his eyes at you.
1962 S. Wynter Hills of Hebron xiv. 175 Mind you, the old thieving Chinaman must be turning in his grave.
2013 E. Huang Fresh off Boat v. 70 I'm kind of glad there weren't smartphones back then because a midget Chinaman telling his coach to start him at quarterback would be viral video gold.
2. A ship (typically a large sailing ship) engaged in trade with China. Also: a Chinese ship. Now historical.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > trading vessel > [noun] > trading to or from specific place
West Indies man1587
Indiaman1588
West Indy man1616
Lubecker1627
Chinaman1653
East Indiaman1675
West Indiaman1689
South-seaman1728
Levanter1812
Indianeer1840
South Spainer1856
1653 A. Woofe Tyranny of Dutch 11 Not long after our safe Arrivall and settlement in Lantore, there arrived a Junck with a China man, laded with commodities, and houndlike after their scent came the full mouth'd Hollander.
1737 New-Eng. Weekly Jrnl. 4 Jan. 1/1 On Wednesday Night some People on board one of the ChinaMen at Deptford, called a Sculler, when immediately a Waterman along side answered, and took in two Gentlewomen.
1897 Forum Oct. 236 Six loaded torpedoes lay on the Chinaman's deck; but none was hit.
2005 J. Evans Gentleman Usher xv. 262 The Earl Talbot sailed from Portsmouth on 7 January [1800] along with other 1200-ton Chinamen the Cirencester, Canton, and Ganges.
3. A man who keeps a china shop; (typically) a dealer in porcelain ware. Now chiefly historical.
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society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in household goods
hardwareman1419
glass-man1597
hardware dealer1703
Chinaman1733
broker1818
Chinawoman1837
1733 J. Bland Ess. in Praise of Women iv. 108 The Silver-Smith and Copper-Smith must be employed, and so must the China-Man, and Joyner.
1772 London Directory Brown William, China-man, 1 Aldgate.
1819 Post Office London Directory 123 Fogg, R., Chinaman.
1977 Illustr. London News 26 Feb. 78 (heading) The Chinaman of Mayfair. Tucked away in a quiet Mayfair street is one of London's oldest and most prestigious shops. Its name is comparatively unknown, except to lovers of china and glass.
4. Cricket. A ball bowled by a left-arm wrist-spinner which spins into a right-handed batter (i.e. the mirror image of a right-arm bowler’s leg break). Also (originally Australian): a ball bowled with apparently the same action, but which spins away from a right-handed batter; a left-arm bowler's equivalent to a googly (googly n. 1a).The origin of the term is uncertain; it apparently originated in Yorkshire, denoting a wrist-spin delivery used by a left-arm bowler as a variation to deceive the batter, either a slower ball by a fast bowler (as in quot. 1929) or a surprise ball used by an orthodox slow left-arm spinner (as in quot. 1931); credit for the invention is often given to the Yorkshire and England cricketer, Maurice Leyland (1900–67). The term appears to have been picked up by Australian cricketers as an alternative name for a googly (see, e.g., quots. 19301, 19302), and this adoption probably accounts for the development of the second sense. All of these developments suggest the principal influence at work was the stereotypical association of China with inscrutability. The origin of the term is often thought (probably wrongly) to relate to the bowling of the Trinidadian slow left-armer, Ellis ‘Puss’ Achong (1904–86), who was of Chinese descent and took wickets against England using this variation both on the MCC's tour to the West Indies in early 1930 and the West Indies' tour to England in 1933. The combination of Achong's bowling and ethnicity was probably a factor in the popularization of the term, especially in the Caribbean.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball
full toss1826
long hop1830
twister1832
bail ball1833
bailer1833
grubber1837
slow ball1838
wide1838
ground ball1839
shooter1843
slower ball1846
twiddler1847
creeper1848
lob1851
sneak1851
sneaker1851
slow1854
bumper1855
teaser1856
daisy-cutter1857
popper1857
yorker1861
sharpshooter1863
headball1866
screwball1866
underhand1866
skimmerc1868
grub1870
ramrod1870
raymonder1870
round-armer1871
grass cutter1876
short pitch1877
leg break1878
lob ball1880
off-break1883
donkey-drop1888
tice1888
fast break1889
leg-breaker1892
kicker1894
spinner1895
wrong 'un1897
googly1903
fizzer1904
dolly1906
short ball1911
wrong 'un1911
bosie1912
bouncer1913
flyer1913
percher1913
finger-spinner1920
inswinger1920
outswinger1920
swinger1920
off-spinner1924
away swinger1925
Chinaman1929
overspinner1930
tweaker1938
riser1944
leg-cutter1949
seamer1952
leggy1954
off-cutter1955
squatter1955
flipper1959
lifter1959
cutter1960
beamer1961
loosener1962
doosra1999
1929 Nelson Leader 3 May 6/4 Waddington, of Yorkshire county renown bowled for Accrington; he got one of his wickets with a leg-spinner—the ball named ‘T' Chinaman’ in the Yorkshire team, and much dreaded by those who used to field close to the wicket when Waddington was attacking.
1930 Sheffield Daily Independent 12 June 4/3 They have gobbled up our counties, mainly by Grimmett's ‘Chinaman’ googlies.
1930 Daily Herald 2 July 13/5 The Australians are calling ‘the googlie’—a chinaman. Not for the first time have these keen-faced cricketers..found an apt and half-humorous label for something important in the best of games.
1931 Sheffield Daily Tel. 18 July 15/1 Leyland..found the edge of Nichols' bat with what he calls his ‘Chinaman’, which to a right hander, is an off-break.
1954 Harvey Murray (W. Austral.) Times 24 Dec. 8/5 Tom Outridge, the 26-year-old left-arm spinner, bowled Hutton today with a ‘chinaman’.
1968 T. Bailey Greatest of My Time 196 As a bowler of Chinamen and googlies Gary [Sobers], like all this comparatively rare breed, is apt to prove expensive.
2019 Times (Nexis) 2 Apr. He was bowling chinamen and I thought, well, if it's turning that way, I can hit it that way. So I did.
Phrases
P1. Australian colloquial. he (also she, you, etc.) must have killed a Chinaman and variants: used to indicate that a person is suffering from bad luck (hyperbolically implying that this bad luck is punishment for a crime committed by the person).Now likely to be considered offensive.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > unfortunately [phrase] > suffering misfortune
out of luck1740
down on one's luck1823
he (also she, you, etc.) must have killed a Chinaman1885
shit out of luck1934
onto (also on to) plums1991
1885 Leader (Melbourne) 31 Oct. (Suppl.) 1/5 Bragan, whose temper did not improve as he lost, cursed his luck from start to finish, urging as a reason the curious non sequitur that ‘he must have killed a Chinaman’.
1940 Truth (Brisbane) 23 June 5/5 [The racehorse owner]..reckons he must have killed a Chinaman or walked under too many ladders since he bought Glenfino.
2013 Singleton (New S. Wales) Argus (Nexis) 24 May (Sport section) Someone in the Singleton Greyhounds camp ‘must have killed a chinaman’ as their wretched luck with injuries extended another week.
P2. colloquial (chiefly U.S.). to have a Chinaman's chance and variants.Now likely to be considered offensive. [Said to have originated in the California gold rush of the mid 19th cent., with reference to Chinese miners exploiting materials abandoned or discarded by white miners, and unlikely to yield much.]
a. In negative contexts: to have very little chance or no chance whatsoever (of achieving one's goal, realizing one's hopes, etc.).
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1893 World (N.Y.) 3 Oct. 6/1 I don't think the horse would have a Chinaman's chance to beat him.
1914 Call (San Francisco) 30 Apr. 6 The poor boob ain't got a Chinaman's chance.
1951 F. Yerby Woman called Fancy (1952) x. 193 You haven't a Chinaman's chance of raising that money in Boston.
1990 K. Vonnegut Hocus Pocus xviii. 142 I didn't have a Chinaman's chance with the Trustees,..not with the sex stuff Wilder had concealed in the folder. When I defended myself against him, I had no idea how well armed he was.
b. In positive or conditional contexts: to have the slightest chance; to have the faintest hope.
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the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > improbability, unlikeliness > [noun] > remote chance
a hundred to one1647
a million to one1678
long odds1764
long shot1796
off-chance1844
long chance1854
outside chance1867
a fat chance1892
to have a Chinaman's chance1915
1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand vi. 50 The Service Battalions..must be led by the officers who have trained them if they are to have a Chinaman's chance when we go out.
1952 Electr. World 1 Sept. 32/1 We'll do anything that has a Chinaman's chance of improving the community.
2014 B. Percy Climbing Coliseum (e-book, accessed 2 July 2020) 181 I don't need a partner who's more worried about whether my ass is properly kissed than about whether our plan has a Chinaman's chance of working.
Compounds
Chinaman's hat n. any of various marine gastropod molluscs having a broad conical shell thought to resemble a type of hat worn in East Asian countries by labourers; esp. Calyptraea chinensis.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > limpet > member of family Calyptraeidae
bonnet limpet1770
bonnet1799
Chinaman's hat1851
deck-head1881
1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 152 The recent C. sinensis—the ‘China-man's hat’ of collectors—is found on the southern shores of England.
1993 S. R. Chester Antarctic Birds & Seals 57 Limpets (sometimes called ‘Chinaman's hat’) graze on algae growing on rocks in the intertidal zone.
2006 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 28 200 The Chinaman's hat Calyptraea chinensis..has a distinctive shape that provides its common name, and is easily distinguished from true limpets by the presence of an internal shelf to its shell.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
> as lemmas
china-man
china-man n. (see Chinaman n. 1).
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n.1621as lemmas