A term (now considered outdated or offensive) for a person from China; also a cricket bowling technique.
Compound of 'China' (the country) and 'man.' This British English formation followed the pattern of 19th-century colonial terminology. The cricket term (a left-arm spinner bowled to a right-handed batter) may derive from a famous Chinese cricket player or reference.
The word 'Chinaman' has an awkward double identity—it's both a dated and offensive ethnic label and a legitimate cricket term that still appears in sports broadcasts. This collision of old racist terminology with technical jargon shows how language can inherit offensive meanings from history even when its modern context is completely neutral.
This term carries gendered and racialized colonial baggage from 19th–20th century Western narratives, where 'Chinaman' was weaponized to demean Chinese immigrants (often men excluded from family reunification by law), conflating race with masculinity and otherness.
Use 'Chinese worker,' 'Chinese immigrant,' or specific national/regional identity (Cantonese, Fujianese, etc.). Avoid the archaic, reductive term entirely in modern contexts.
["Chinese worker","Chinese immigrant","Chinese person","Chinese laborer"]
Chinese laborers built North American infrastructure while facing legal exclusion and violence; centering their humanity and specific origins restores dignity erased by colonial language.
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