Chinese fire drill

Discussion Open Forum
1

We really need a thread to deposit the oh so many instances of sheer and depressing stupidity from this part of the world.

Here’s one to kick it all off.

[quote]Boyfriend dies after catching suicidal lover
March 26, 2009 - 6:15AM

A Chinese man died after catching his girlfriend as she jumped from the seventh floor of an apartment block in the south-eastern city of Quanzhou, local media reported.

The young man, identified only by the surname Wang, held out his arms to break the woman’s fall as she plummeted from their apartment in the city on Tuesday evening, the Straits Capital News reported on its website.

Wang was killed by the impact of his girlfriend landing on top of him, while the woman suffered bone fractures and other serious injuries but was not in critical condition, the newspaper said.

The couple had quarrelled shortly before the unnamed woman began threatening to jump from the apartment, it quoted witnesses as saying.

The witnesses reported seeing Wang on the street below the apartment, trying to persuade his girlfriend not to jump.

The newspaper showed photographs of the injured woman in hospital and of the street below the apartment.

The woman appeared confused and unclear about how she fell from the apartment, sometimes giving her age as 18, and sometimes as 30, it quoted medical staff as saying.

She was under treatment for multiple fractures and required surgery, but she did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, it said.[/quote]

So God opted to spare the tard and knock off the well intentioned? What a sick bastard!

HG

2

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]
So God opted to spare the tard and knock off the well intentioned? What a sick bastard!

HG[/quote]

How do you know he wasn’t the tard for standing underneath? Seems pretty obvious to me.

3

Hmm, point taken. Can we move this to the Darwin awards then?

HG

4

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Hmm, point taken. Can we move this to the Darwin awards then?

HG[/quote]

That’s the spirit!

5

What does this have to do with the pejorative term “Chinese Fire Drill”?
Which usually refers to a chaotic & ineffective act performed by a large group of people.
Unless, one is American. Where it apparently has something to do with drunk frat members haphazardly stumbling in and out of automobiles.

6

[quote=“TheGingerMan”]
Where it apparently has something to do with drunk frat members haphazardly stumbling in and out of automobiles.[/quote]

I performed my first Chinese fire drill while sitting at a stoplight at the age of 10. A friend at school’s older brother told us about it, so I figured I’d give it a go.

When traffic is standing still you open the door, run completely around the vehicle and then get back in the car. It’s pretty funny but my mom didn’t think so.

7

Pejorative term? I would have thought highly descriptive.

[quote]The term is alleged to have originated in the early 1900s, during a naval incident wherein a ship manned by British officers and a Chinese crew set up a fire drill for fighting a fire in the engine room. In the event of a fire the crew was to form a bucket brigade, drawing water from the starboard side, taking it to the engine room and throwing it on the fire. Because water would accumulate in the engine room, another crew was to take the excess thrown water and haul it back up to the main deck, and then heave it over the port side (in order to bail it out).

When the drill was called the first moments went according to plan, but then orders became confused in translation. The crew for the bucket brigade began drawing the water from the starboard side, running over to the port side, and then throwing the water over, and so by-passing the engine room completely. Thus the expression “Chinese fire drill” entered the English language as meaning a large confused action by individuals accomplishing nothing.[/quote]

Not sure why your imagination can’t extend to the scene of the poor doomed lad waving his arms and yelling below - “I’ll catch you” and it’s relevance here, but I certainly can. As for accomplishing nothing, there I see your point, as did Elegua, who pointed out that some poor clod was removed from the gene pool.

HG

8

[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Pejorative term? I would have thought highly descriptive.

[quote]The term is alleged to have originated in the early 1900s, during a naval incident wherein a ship manned by British officers and a Chinese crew set up a fire drill for fighting a fire in the engine room. In the event of a fire the crew was to form a bucket brigade, drawing water from the starboard side, taking it to the engine room and throwing it on the fire. Because water would accumulate in the engine room, another crew was to take the excess thrown water and haul it back up to the main deck, and then heave it over the port side (in order to bail it out).

When the drill was called the first moments went according to plan, but then orders became confused in translation. The crew for the bucket brigade began drawing the water from the starboard side, running over to the port side, and then throwing the water over, and so by-passing the engine room completely. Thus the expression “Chinese fire drill” entered the English language as meaning a large confused action by individuals accomplishing nothing.[/quote]
[/quote]

Descriptive and comedic at the same time.

9

Yes, that famous incident of the boat fire drill coined the term. However, let’s recall that episode was most likely brought about by inept windbagged British officers who could not speak the language issuing orders that were lost in translation for what to the Chinese crew was likely seen as a pointless drill. In the latter’s eye’s, there was no fire, so why practice for one? Might as well get the damn silly thing over with as quick as possible, and shunt the water off the port side.

[quote=“wikipedia”]The term is traditionally explained as coming from a British tendency around the time of World War I to use the adjective Chinese as a slur, implying “confused, disorganized, or inferior.” Other “Chinese” slurs of the day included “Chinese national anthem” (an explosion) and “Chinese puzzle” (one with no solution). In this context it is related to the stereotype of the Chinese as being “inscrutable”, hard to judge, and difficult to understand, all relating to the British experience of a sophisticated but distinctly alien culture. There are earlier isolated examples which were based on ideas of the inferiority of the Chinese. Another example is the term “Chinese auction,” now often referred to as a “penny social.”
Several expressions in common use in aviation since World War I, such as “Chinese landing” (a clumsy landing) and “Chinese ace” (an inept pilot), derive from the English phrase One Wing Low, a legitimate technical description of flying and landing technique taken to resemble a Chinese name.[citation needed] Regardless of its origin, it is considered offensive by some.[/quote]

[quote]Not sure why your imagination can't extend to the scene of the poor doomed lad waving his arms and yelling below - "I'll catch you" and it's relevance here, but I certainly can.[/quote]
Where are the large numbers of people in this incident? Do curious onlookers count?
And was there an automobile involved somehow?
 :woodstock:
10

[quote=“TheGingerMan”]Yes, that famous incident of the boat fire drill coined the term. However, let’s recall that episode was most likely brought about by inept windbagged British officers who could not speak the language issuing orders that were lost in translation for what to the Chinese crew was likely seen as a pointless drill. In the latter’s eye’s, there was no fire, so why practice for one? Might as well get the damn silly thing over with as quick as possible, and shunt the water off the port side.

[quote=“wikipedia”]The term is traditionally explained as coming from a British tendency around the time of World War I to use the adjective Chinese as a slur, implying “confused, disorganized, or inferior.” Other “Chinese” slurs of the day included “Chinese national anthem” (an explosion) and “Chinese puzzle” (one with no solution). In this context it is related to the stereotype of the Chinese as being “inscrutable”, hard to judge, and difficult to understand, all relating to the British experience of a sophisticated but distinctly alien culture. There are earlier isolated examples which were based on ideas of the inferiority of the Chinese. Another example is the term “Chinese auction,” now often referred to as a “penny social.”
Several expressions in common use in aviation since World War I, such as “Chinese landing” (a clumsy landing) and “Chinese ace” (an inept pilot), derive from the English phrase One Wing Low, a legitimate technical description of flying and landing technique taken to resemble a Chinese name.[citation needed] Regardless of its origin, it is considered offensive by some.[/quote]
[/quote]

Thanks for sharing all those classic terms. Some of them I’d never even heard of! What about the Chinese fingercuffs? That has to be pejorative in some way right?

11

Watch “Chasing Amy”.

12

[quote=“TheGingerMan”]Yes, that famous incident of the boat fire drill coined the term. However, let’s recall that episode was most likely brought about by inept windbagged British officers who could not speak the language issuing orders that were lost in translation for what to the Chinese crew was likely seen as a pointless drill. In the latter’s eye’s, there was no fire, so why practice for one? Might as well get the damn silly thing over with as quick as possible, and shunt the water off the port side.

[quote=“wikipedia”]The term is traditionally explained as coming from a British tendency around the time of World War I to use the adjective Chinese as a slur, implying “confused, disorganized, or inferior.” Other “Chinese” slurs of the day included “Chinese national anthem” (an explosion) and “Chinese puzzle” (one with no solution). In this context it is related to the stereotype of the Chinese as being “inscrutable”, hard to judge, and difficult to understand, all relating to the British experience of a sophisticated but distinctly alien culture. There are earlier isolated examples which were based on ideas of the inferiority of the Chinese. Another example is the term “Chinese auction,” now often referred to as a “penny social.”
Several expressions in common use in aviation since World War I, such as “Chinese landing” (a clumsy landing) and “Chinese ace” (an inept pilot), derive from the English phrase One Wing Low, a legitimate technical description of flying and landing technique taken to resemble a Chinese name.[citation needed] Regardless of its origin, it is considered offensive by some.[/quote]

[quote]Not sure why your imagination can't extend to the scene of the poor doomed lad waving his arms and yelling below - "I'll catch you" and it's relevance here, but I certainly can.[/quote]
Where are the large numbers of people in this incident? Do curious onlookers count?
And was there an automobile involved somehow?
 :woodstock:[/quote]

Personally I would be outraged if I were Dutch too

Reverse Dutch auctions, "Go Dutch", "Dutch Date", even "Double Dutch".
13

[quote=“Elegua”]
Personally I would be outraged if I were Dutch too

Reverse Dutch auctions, “Go Dutch”, “Dutch Date”, even “Double Dutch”.[/quote]

You’re German, right?
Close enough, really, I mean isn’t all “German” culture just bastardized Frisian??

14

Dutch, Deutsch? What’s the difference?

15

I read a book that was written in the 17th century which chronicled the adventures of first British naval ship to reach Hong Kong. (As opposed to merchant adventurers.)

They spent some time at HK trying to get permission to sail upriver and fending off attempts by Chinese officials who thought they should be subject to search. Eventually they put on a show of force, and were finally invited ashore at… Guangdong? (I forget.)

On the way to the reception, a fire broke out in the town. Wooden buildings, wind in the right direction. Nightmare, and it looked like a large part of the town would be destroyed so the British commander suggested that the fire teams demolish some buildings to create a fire break. The Chinese officials refused to do this, on the grounds that the buildings in question were imperial property and destroying them was punishable by death. It didn’t matter that they and everything behind them were about to be consumed by fire anyway, nobody wanted to be responsible for making the decision.

You can imagine that the first official reports to reach London of the way that Chinese society operated were not very complimentary.

16

Efforts to have a fire drill at my old Bushiban were eventually abandoned after nobody could find the key to remove the padlock on the emergency exit.

17

[quote=“the chief”][quote=“Elegua”]
Personally I would be outraged if I were Dutch too

Reverse Dutch auctions, “Go Dutch”, “Dutch Date”, even “Double Dutch”.[/quote]

You’re German, right?
Close enough, really, I mean isn’t all “German” culture just bastardized Frisian??[/quote]

Yah…but only the fat white chicks with attention deficit problems know I’m German. :laughing:

I don’t know what a reverse German auction might be. Is that where they confiscate the item on auction and then shoot the owner, or vise-versa? Or is it that you let only Turks, East Europeans and Africans participate and then shun them when they do?

18

And don’t forget that old favorite, “Chinaman’s chance”

I had to try to explain that one in a dining hall full of college students in Beijing in 1986.

A graduate student had been reading Alan Ginsberg’s “America”, and cornered me at lunch to ask about it, drawing a big crowd of onlookers as I struggled to explain the horrible treatment of the Chinese at the hands of the vicious white exploiters…

19

In Spanish we have “cuento chino” or spinning a looooong yarn -very appropriate, actually.

20

The actuality of its occurrence did nothing to alleviate the inherent irony…