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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Originally a reference to the socio-economic prospects of immigrant Chinese labour in the United States in the 19th century, which often involved highly dangerous work on the railroads.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]Chinaman's chance (plural Chinamen's chances)
- (idiomatic, offensive) No chance; zero possibility.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 103:
- And if I weren’t here now, Driscoll and Ann wouldn’t have a Chinaman’s chance.’
- 2005 January 29, Richard Corliss, “Anna May Wong Did It Right”, in Time:
- The Chinese, who in the mid-19th century had come to America by the tens of thousands and helped build the transcontinental railway, were on the receiving end of much prejudicial legislation. . . . In the slang wisdom of the day, sojourners from the Middle Kingdom "didn't stand a Chinaman's chance."