Ching Chong
From Free net encyclopedia
- For the Chinese journalist, see Ching Cheong.
Ching Chong is an ethnic slur directed at people of Chinese nationality or ancestry. It is most frequently encountered in the United States and Australia.
The origin of the phrase is not known with certainty. However, since syllables sounding like what an English speaker would pronounce as "ching" or "chong" are relatively common in Mandarin Chinese, the expression is likely an attempt to mock Chinese speech patterns.
In 1917, a ragtime piano song entitled "Ching Chong" was co-written by Ted Baxter and Max Kortlander.
Sometimes "ching chong" is combined with another anti-Chinese slur, that of "Chinaman;" the combination is often used in nursery-style rhymes, such as:
- Ching Chong Chinaman sitting on a fence,
- Trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.
- Along came a choo-choo train,
- Knocked him in the cuckoo-brain,
- And that was the end of the fifteen cents.
In December 2002, the term gained international notoriety when National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal directed it, apparently in jest, at fellow NBA star and Chinese immigrant Yao Ming, during an interview on Fox Sports Radio. O'Neal was quoted as saying, "You tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'" Yao Ming took the high road with his response: "Chinese is a hard language to learn." After a public outcry, O'Neal apologized for making the comment, insisting that no prejudice or malice had been intended.
On January 24, 2006, comedian Adam Carolla referred to the Asian Excellence Awards as a joke on his radio morning show and repeatedly used the sounds "ching-chong" to recreate a segment of the awards. The awards honor Asian Americans in media who have made a difference in the United States and were conducted in English. Branding the segment as demeaning and racist, several Asian American organizations have threatened to ask advertisers to withdraw their support from the show if the station does not issue an apology. [1] [2] On February 22, 2006, Carolla without fanfare read a brief apology for the segment.
The phrase ching chong is also Thai slang for urinate, equivalent to the American English phrase "take a piss" (not to be confused with the British English "taking the piss", which has an entirely different connotation).
See also
External links
- http://www.chingchong.com/
- "Group wants sincere apology, diversity in NBA", ESPN.com, January 17, 2002.
- "Shaq's Apology Not Good Enough", The San Francisco Gate, January 14, 2002.
- "Shaq says mock accent was used jokingly", ESPN.com, January 10, 2002.