Chinese fire drill
A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger,…A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.
Translations
2 languagesMeaning
2 senses(US)A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.
(US, derogatory)A silly, pointless exercise.
Origin
Perhaps from the World War I era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic andPerhaps from the World War I era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic and racial slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: Chinese fire drills| Singular | Chinese fire drill |
|---|---|
| Plural | Chinese fire drills |
regular
Word family
1 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.