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Originally and chiefly American English, the slang phrase Chinese fire drill designates:
– a state of disorder or confusion;
– a prank in which the occupants of a vehicle which has temporarily come to a stop must jump out, run around the vehicle and get back in.
This phrase is based on the image of firemen running in all directions during a fire drill instead of acting in unison, and stems from the discriminatory treatment of the Chinese people living in the USA—as illustrated by the following from the Santa Cruz Surf (Santa Cruz, California, USA) of Monday 10th February 1890 [page 2, column 1] (here, Chinese fire drill was probably not a fixed collocation):
A Chinese Fire Drill.
The Rustler says: To-morrow forenoon Chief Engineer Peckham and several expert firemen will proceed to Brooklyn and give the Chinese fire department their first lesson in the use of the new fire apparatus which has been provided by J. T. Porter. Chief Peckham has presented Hop Yick, the Chinese chief, with a pocket spanner, and the heathen has already made the discovery that his spanner can be used with good effect as a nut-cracker and lemon-squeezer. He is figuring upon further improving the spanner by adding a corkscrew for social occasions.
—Cf. also the phrases a Chinaman’s chance, he must have killed a Chinaman and Chinese burn.
A STATE OF DISORDER OR CONFUSION
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences that I have found of the phrase Chinese fire drill designating a state of disorder or confusion—they seem to indicate that this phrase originated in the slang of the U.S. Marines:
1-: From the column Sideline Sketches, by Barbara Johnson, published in the Ridgewood Herald-News (Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA) of Thursday 3rd July 1941 [page 19, column 5]:
No softie is the Marine Private First Class who is stationed at the Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. Asked to send a photo and some information about the goings-on in his outfit, to be used in this supplement, he replied “no” in positive terms.
[…]
For a down-to-earth rejection, consider these bits from the pen of a man who is unquestionably and rightfully proud of his Marine standing: “The Herald-News is all screwed up like a Chinese Fire Drill on Sunday. I would only be leaving myself open for a General Court Martial if I sent a picture of the Marine Corps activity only to have it printed under an Army caption. (Can’t take the chance).”
2-: From The Lament of a Booty, by ‘A Marine’, published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA) of Saturday 15th August 1942 [page 4, column 4]:
For three weeks we drilled in close orderly way
Like a Chinese fire drill the corporal would say.
Five minutes to take a shower and shave,
If you were not on time there was hell to pay.
A boot could find time to get things under way
If they would only give us a 30 hour day.
3-: From PT Boat: Bob Reed Wins His Command at Melville (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1943), by the U.S. author Henry Bolles Lent (1901-1973) [page 166]—PT boat stands for patrol torpedo boat, designating a vessel carrying one or more torpedoes used by the U.S. Navy during the Second World War:
“I was certain that I had one of my navigation equations in the test fouled up like a Chinese fire drill.”
4-: From an account of the inter-city collegiate basketball match between the MSTC Dragons and the Concordia Cobbers that took place on Tuesday 23rd February 1943—account by Harold Poier, published in the Moorhead Daily News (Moorhead, Minnesota, USA) of Wednesday 24th February 1943 [page 5, column 1]:
The fourth period was as muddled and unorganized as a Chinese fire drill, but it was the Dragons who gained control of the conflagration.
5-: From an article about the Transfer Unit at NATTC, published in The Bull Horn (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) of Thursday 2nd March 1944 [page 13, column 1]—The Bull Horn was published for the personnel of Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Norman, Oklahoma:
The Transfer Unit [is] where you’ll live for anywhere between two days to two weeks when you’ve finished school and are ready for duty with the fleet, at an advanced base, or at another shore station. It’s the distributing center for NATTC’s manpower—the clearing house.
You’d think, with orders for drafts coming in on a fairly regular basis, that running such a place would be a lead pipe cinch. You’re wrong. One slip and the whole works would be more fouled up than a Chinese fire drill. As one of the MAA’s in charge noted: “You don’t have to be crazy to run this joint, but it helps.”
A PRANK
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences that I have found of the phrase Chinese fire drill used in the sense of a prank in which the occupants of a vehicle which has temporarily come to a stop must jump out, run around the vehicle and get back in—they seem to indicate that this phrase originated in High-School slang:
1-: From Whiteface (Hereford High School, Texas, USA) of Thursday 29th October 1959 [iii. ¼]—as quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary (current online edition):
What is your favorite pastime..? Riding around and playing Chinese fire drill.
2-: From Teen Talk, by Ruth Hayes and Connie Black, published in The Dakota County Star (South Sioux City, Nebraska, USA) of Thursday 20th October 1960 [page B-8, column 5]—the reference seems to be to Allen High School, Allen, Nebraska:
Friday night Betty Corkin, Irene Matney, Joan Hoover, Sheron Blessing, Janet Curl and Eleanor Corkin were practicing the Chinese fire drill with only a few mishaps. It seems Joan Hoover, in her hurry to get back in the car, got caught on the fender. Better luck next time, Joan.
3-: From the column Ham on Ryon, by Art Ryon, published in the Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California, USA) of Wednesday 14th June 1961 [Part 3, page 5, column 2]:
Ah, Long Beach… a postcarder reports that teen-agers down there have a new game—“Chinese Fire Drill.” At any traffic signal when the light is red, all occupants of a car get out, scramble around the car, and try to get back into their original seats before the light changes. When there’s a caravan, they’re supposed to scramble around ALL the cars and back to their own. Fun? Sure—unless you’re in one of the cars behind them…
4-: From the Tulare Advance-Register (Tulare, California, USA) of Saturday 1st July 1961 [page 1, column 8]:
These Registered
CHARLOTTE PRESTON, making an “extra double-thick” milk shake.
[…]
CONSTABLE FRED D. ALLEN, listening to an explanation of a new teen-age auto game—Chinese fire drill.
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