Here’s something I’ve been pondering recently.
Is the phrase “chinese whispers” racist?
You may not know, because I didn’t know until I looked it up very recently, that the term is a very colonial one (late 19th, early 20th century British empire) and refers to a game which most of the rest of the world knows as “Telephone“.
As far as I have been able to determine, Chinese whispers is derived from another phrase, Chinese fire drill. Chinese firedrill is named after a fire drill done on a ship with Chinese crew who didn’t understand what was going on, the end result being it all got screwed up. It basically got blamed on the Chinese for being stupid.
So when something goes completely wrong due to incompetence or stupidity leading to mass confusion, it got called a Chinese firedrill, the implication being that Chinese are stupid, and they can’t communicate clearly.
I have been using the term “Chinese whispers” all my life (though not often, as I kind of grew out of this game fairly early on) without any thought to its origin. I have never heard the game of Chinese whispers referred to as telephone before so I suspect that most people in UK would be unfamiliar with it also (similar to how we know the song as “okey cokey” but the rest of the world knows it as “hokey pokey”).
Very interesting story! It is not racist – just based on true story. In similar way I heard the Japanese are calling mess or chaos – “Chinese order”. Anyone who’s been to China knows how messy and dirty and poorly organized is that whole country.
have you ever been there before? if not, how could you say” Anyone who’s been to China knows how messy and dirty and poorly organized is that whole country.”
Well, I HAVE been to China, and I can tell you it is VERY disorganized! But a lovely country and lovely people.
You are very racist already, you might only visited China once and then you are now telling the world, China is dirty? Regardless the country, it all have clear and dirty part. Be carful what you say!
Wow, the guy honestly replied. Having heard from the horses mouth regarding China I can state the sy is constantly overcast due to the sheer amount of pollution. Japan/South Korea it ain’t.
China also has the largest populace of any nation in the world, hence the above statements from the 2 posts ‘messy’ /’disorganised’
Just because someone states a fact doesn’t make them a racist.
So basically racist
Are you guys christian?Have you been to China?Do you know that the Economic Crisis broke your idiot “proud western world” into pieces, and China was not seriousy influenced at all? Do you know that if one of your ancestors might be raped or killed by your lovely Janaese friends?Chinese are loud because they are condifent enough to rule the world in the next few centries. It is not called chaos at all when there are 1/5 of the world’s population on the richest and blessed land. I wonder if your govenment could still handle the country with a such large population as it in China. You bloody idiot, without Chinese, you are nothing!
Well said!!!
Just like any country, some places are dirty, some are clean. What irritates me is when people call the Chinese people dishonest. The government sure is, but I’ve had a long relationship with China and Chinese in my family. I can attest that they are some of most intelligent, gracious, kind people one could ever know.
Anyone who doesn’t speak a language fluently can’t understand accurately everything that’s said. We call Hispanic people dumb. They’re not. They just don’t speak English well. I know a little Chinese, but I have to say that i was so thankful that EVERY grocery store, department store and shop in China hadsigns in English. If not, they’d have referred to me as a “American fire drill”!
@vivi, “you guys”? Keith is the only one who said China was messy, dirty and poorly organised. I was simply relating the etymology of the term. I think you have a rather large chip on your shoulder.
Stupid guys
Come on, tell me, how many things you have in your home were made in China?
In next few years you guys will know
without Chinese
you are nothing!
not even a garbage!!
lmao you poor rubbish who thinks chinas crap,guys if you have a brain use it for once but you dumb asses probably doesnt have a brain…….
100% agree with no chinese no nothing 😀
get screwed you 鬼佬S
It seems like this article must have popped up in some Chinese forum to get so many pro-Chinese comments all of a sudden.
I will remind you all once again that no part of this article is being critical of China. It is explaining the origin of a term and asking if that term is racist. It is actually questioning Western sensibilities and asking if they are wrong. The only thing on this page that actually criticised China was a comment above by Keith.
I realise that English probably isn’t the first language of many of the people commenting on this, but before you type out an outraged response saying that China is great, without it we are all stupid rubbish and so on, please consider whether you have actually read and understood the article. Go and read the Wikipedia article it links to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_firedrill
If you don’t, then you have misunderstood, you are probably not saying anything new, and I am unlikely to approve your comment.
Thanks.
It is free country, free speech! You have got no rights to stop anybody expressing their opinion!
People typing in English only because you cannot understand or write Chinese!
Cat,
I haven’t stopped anyone expressing their opinion, as long as they have said something new. I have suppressed a few comments that were just mindless pro- or anti-Chinese in nature. This article is not trying to be anti- or pro-Chinese. You will note that I have just approved all three of your comments even though I don’t personally find them very useful.
I have no idea what writing or speaking in Chinese has got to do with anything. As this is my blog and I can’t understand Chinese, and the audience likely can’t either, there are surely better places to write in Chinese for a Chinese audience. But as far as I recall there haven’t been any non-English comments anyway so I don’t understand why you would mention it.
Ultimately if you do not like how I manage comments on my blog, please feel free to write your own articles on your own blog or social media platform, instead of expecting me to pay to publish your words in the way you want them published!
Bravo. Well said.
Well…..the original question was in ENGLISH. It would have been rude to answer the questioner in another language.
A whole lot of ‘ad hom’ going on, too. I think the comments on this article adequately demonstrate that the game of ‘chinese whispers’ is aptly named. Qed.
But does anyone know what Chinese Whispers is called in China, if indeed it does exist there as a game at all?
i think it’s called ‘geese-to-geese’ or something like that
believe it or not, Chinese people were once known as the Nation of Courtesy, so i apologise on behalf of my compatriots for those comments
Its always hurtful to hear one’s own country criticized. I can understand the anger. We all love our countries, whatever their faults. The U.S.A. has a lot to thank the Chinese for – our rail system from east to west and in between was built on the backs of Chinese workers, some losing their lives doing so. None of us are perfect, all of us have said things that we later regretted or were taken the wrong way.
I’ve been a lover of the Chinese culture since I was 6 years old. My first best friend was Chinese. My two lovely daughters are Chinese, and my entire house is full of Chinese art, literature, furniture and folk art in honor of them. I began studying the Chinese language a few years ago, but I can’t write yet, and my conversation ability is about the level of an 8 yr old. But I’m not giving up yet!!!!!
“The Whispers” game does exist in Chinese communities, it’s called 以訛傳訛 in traditional Chinese, which means “passing along rumors or gossips” (nothing to do with geese). A more appropriate name for this game I reckon is “The Grapevine”. I found a useful website http://baike.baidu.com/view/371309.htm on this proverb, it’s in simplified Chinese though. I suggest people who are culturally sensitive to avoid the word Chinese in the names of those games.
Sorry to bump this page up, was just doing a search on Chinese Whisper and I got here:
From what you see, you can be fairly sure even if “Chinese Whisper” wasn’t meant to be racist, most of us Chinese do take it as it is 🙂
It is safe to say that whatever phrases that contains any possibility for it being racist is best left unspoken/ unused. To me it will sound quite ignorant if someone is trying to find excuses to use phrases they themselves have doubt with.
On the other hand, I have to agree with what mycount3 said, we used to be taught how important it is to be polite and such since really young, so its unacceptable to flare out in a discussion like this. Can’t we just be a bit more sensible and try to explain or have a calm discussion?
Regarding what Vivi said, we Chinese use quite alot of Japanese products as well, do we feel ashamed of it? I believe there were arguments going on claiming that Chinese will not survive without the Japanese made air-cons, food, fashion, etc. I don’t really see a point getting all upset over the past when its got nothing to do with our generation really.
Neither do I think we should be so arrogant regarding how strong our country is, have you seen the latest news regarding intoxic milk? I’m still trying to get over that…
Anyway, all races have their strong and weak points, we should just accept that we are all different and try to get along with each other.
As WH Auden said ‘we must love one another or die.’
How I WISH my American people could have the grace and manners of the Chinese people! If you disagree with someone on social media over here, people will write some of the meanest, cruelest comments I’ve ever seen! It didn’t used to be this way! We’ve become a crude people in general, regarding our manners and the profanity used, and its a disgrace! Its really sad. Then, to have the nerve to criticize other countries, other people. Shameful. I wish for a kinder, gentler world, but without RESTRAINT and SELF CONTROL, which the Chinese people have an abundance of, I don’t see it happening!
Thank You ANG!!!! I’m black myself and find it really hard to read all the arguments. It’s not the way any of us were raised and I know it’s not the way Chinese people are raised as I have Chinese in my family (nephew, niece, sister-in-law) as well as descendants mixed in with Arab’s.
We all know better! Let’s start acting that way! 🙂
I wanted to pound my head on the table after reading the first few comments. Thanks so much for the info, btw. I’m Chinese-Canadian residing and teaching English in Japan (unusual combo, considering the heated discussion above). My high school students are doing a chapter on English idioms and one of them is Chinese Whispers.
The Japanese teacher thought this one was amusing in particular and wanted to know whether or not it did have any negative connotations directed specifically at Chinese people, or if it’s got the same sort of unprejudiced origin as “It’s all Greek to me” and “Pardon my French”, both of which could also be taken as racially derogatory phrases. Quite honestly, I’m not surprised it’s been changed to Broken Telephone, especially considering the growing population of Asians in North America. That was the name I was brought up hearing too.
The greatest thing about living in a multicultural nation is that you don’t become overly patriotic to the point of becoming irrational. Living in an homogeneous nation for a year really puts things in perspective.
Hi Vivi and all you other Chinese!!!! I think your opinions, to which you are rightly entitled, as I am, are extremely biased and taken out of context. Don’t be so over sensitive about it all. It is only the name of a game and the comments left by other people who maybe don’t like China, well it is their right to say what they want and if you don’t like what they say about your country, then too bad, just ignore it.
Also, I don’t think it is very nice of you to call us non-Chinese garbage and other similar terms. Remember, what goes around comes around.
Have a nice day Vivi and friends!!!! : ))))))))))
hey there is a chinese whisper that goes on and grows to be a gigantic lie ,it starts with someone of whom hates you and spreads vicious gossip and lies about you and your life till it spreads like wild fire and eats into your life I know I have an enermy in the hunter vally nsw who did/does this to me. yes kaleen john u know I’ m talking about u.
I never heard of a Chinese Whispers growing up in the USA nor do I think it’s racist. I did grow up with Chinese firedrill but I never attributed it to Chinese being stupid, just horrible drivers (true fact).
China is not a superpower, they just good at manufacturing junk–which the USA allows because we too cheap to pay fellow Americans and cannot train the illegals to do fancy complicated work. So yes China makes a ton of stuff and they have 1 billion too many people, but the Communist goverment is a bunch of tards and the goal of Mao Tse Tung to educate the entire population failed once capitalism starting gaining ground. There are hundreds of millions of illiterate Chinese peasants the government would love to destroy if they could just find a way to do it. Perhaps they will make a tunnel to North Korea and drop of their undesirables much like to the UK did in Australia.
Let me explain about the “Chinese junk”…if you visit China, you’ll find many beautiful items of heirloom quality made by craftsmen. The Chinese invented many things we thought WE invented – its just that the Chinese invented it 1,000 years earlier.
Craftsmanship and artisans ended during Mao Dzeh Tung’s Great Leap Forward, where he sent the wealthy and professionals to work in the fields and live in camps, and the poor to the factories to produce products made quickly to sell. It was going to make China wealthy. Instead, it caused a nation-wide famine. Things that took many processes to make (cloisonne, for example) were made in a short time. The artisans were forced to learn the quicker, newer way to produce. If you chose NOT to produce products the new way, you were sent to hard labor camps where you usually died. Mao believed saturation over quality, and, in many ways, China still does this. HOWEVER, quality is beginning to return as are the artisans and apprenticeships.
Many of “American” products are made in China, where the companies (OUR companies) hire children to work up to 10 hours a day for the equivalent of a nickel a day. In one Nike factory I toured a few years ago, the manager (an American) tried to tell me that the workers were ADULT MIDGETS! The company then hires some celebrity and pays HIM millions of dollars to endorse the product. The American people buy the products, all the while complaining about how expensive it is. They don’t know about the exploited child workers.
Another dirty little secret I’m not proud of is child prostitution. China has outlawed it, yet it still thrives underground. I lived next door to a “high end” brothel in Guanzhou once. Every night, I would watch these men walk up the steps into this house, laughing, wearing expensive suits, some already drunk. The clientele comprised of mostly AMERICANS. Coming to China to get something they couldn’t get in the U.S. So before anyone here that is American begins knocking the Chinese, think about that!
The TERM Chinese Whisper is used to describe a miscommunication from the original message to that which is ultimately received due to changes occurring in the retelling by the people in-between the sender and the final recipient.
It is called what it is as it’s based on 2 potential origins:
Passing a message across distances between the towers / guess posts along the Great Wall of China would involve a lot of people so it would never be replicated exactly as it was sent as people (Chinese – it being their Wall) would inadvertently fail to repeat it word for word, giving rise to errors in the retelling.
Another origin is based on a message a General / soldier on the front line passed back to the main force of troops, on the location of an attack or possible advance. Due to the number of people who were required to pass on the message without deserting their position, the message changed and the resulting information received by the main force caused an incorrect deployment and caused their defeat – from an assumed position of superiority
This is my understanding and very clearly per dates phones or potentially offensive racial slurs based on different languages being spoken.
Keep on smiling 🙂
Nim, wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers) says:
I think the term ‘chinese whispers’ is offensive in the same way that the term ‘dutch courage’ can be used to imply that the dutch are cowards unless they are intoxicated.
The truth is, we are living in a global, multicultural society where we determine our own destinies. Power to the individual, i say. Any generalisations of a people or a race should should be consigned to the ‘believe it or not’ section of history books together with the words ‘bigot’ and ‘ignorance’.
I am gathering as many names as possible in as many languages as possible of the parlor game called in English TELEPHONE. Please send me whatever names you know in this way: (1) the name of the language, (2) the name of the game in the writing system normally used for that language; (3) if the writing system is not a form of the Latin alphabet, the name of the game in Latin letters; (4) an English translation of the name; (5) the city and country where you have heard the name used. English names are welcome too because TELEPHONE is not the only name of the game in English. Your emails will be forwarded to me. Thank you for your help.
Yes, it is racist.
To Mirielle: I grew up in Los Angeles. We called the game “Party Line” — a reference to when telephone lines were shared.
I didn’t realise too that it’s an idiom created by the English;historically they do have a knack of being racist(exemplified throughout the world, eg in Southern USA,Australia,Canada,New Zealand,etc)
Even tho we may have progressed a fair bit since the colonial days, there are still latent underlying racism among white people; there’s no denying that but mercifully,that is diminshing day by day.
it is comforting to know that once feelings are expressed by the offended party(ies),there’s generally an acceptance that offending terms or remarks don’t get repeated ; well. at least that’s what we all hope for in the interest of world peace ,harmony and understanding.
It’s up to the younger generation to show the way forward and shake off the old garbage.
Shalom
Thank you, Evelyn, for reporting “party line” for Los Angeles. Can you please tell me the approximate years (1940s? 1950s? etc.) that you heard the game called by that name?
@Andy,
The use of Wikipedia as source material is not really conclusive, not simply because of the ambiguity of the text but that it’s just an opinion as well.
Having said that, clearly, they’ve gone and done some research, but again, unless there are specific references to conversations had or documents where the phrase was used in the racist terms people are assuming here, then we’re back to square one, opinions only.
As you can see from the comments, there are three distinct opinions here;
One, those who have grown up with the phrase being in reference to the game, so would naturally – on closer inspection – believe it to be based on a racist origin. Given the name of the game is different in different countries, Russian Gossip in some places, this would make sense as it would only be called Chinese Whispers in recent times – circa 100 years or so – if it were based on a racist stereotype.
Two, those who have jumped on this for no more reason than on perpetuate the potential racist undertone for the sake of either, playing the victim against the bad guys in the West, or to show how amazing everything Chinese is, so get stuffed. Either way, it’s a bit of a silly position.
Three, those who are looking for the origin with an open mind, and not letting the previous starting points from leading them to any rash conclusions.
However, given the way in which this is all going, I think people would prefer to demonize the phrase as it serves their purpose more effectively than if it were a harmless remark from the past
I know which I’d prefer it to be 🙂
My friends and I played “Party Line” in the ’50s and ’60s. I first played it at a brownie scouts meeting. I don’t remember it being called by any other name.
A telephone party line was when 2 or more homes shared the same circuit. Each home had its own phone number, but only one home could use the phone at a time. If you picked up and heard someone talking, you hung up, waited awhile, and checked again to see if the line was free before making your call. If you stayed on the line and listened, then you might have heard fodder for gossip.
Racism doesn’t exist until you act on the thoughts in your head, in print, word or action. If someone else takes offense, then it is racist. Its like the term ‘indian burn’. As a native, I take offense. I grew up in Canada calling it a ‘snake bite’, and then found out about the other term on Simpsons. I didn’t know it was that widespread
To Mirielle and others: I grew up in Belgium, in the Sixties, we called the game “telephone chinois” (Chinese telephone), so a combination.
Regarding the “racist” discussion: I’d find the world a very sad place if all these customary wordings were flushed out of every day speech for not being “politically correct”. There are borderline cases of course, and some traditions can remain pure “slur”, but, in this case, I do not think anyone ever thought that the name of the game was racist in any way or ever thought that the sub-text was “Chinese are dumb” or whatever.
For non-Chinese people, the languages spoken in China are obviously impossible to understand. Same thing the other way round I suppose. So, yeah, the name makes/made sense if only from that incomprehension point of view. I would not be bothered at all to hear that Chinese or Japanese people called this game “French telegraph” or “English confusion” or whatever.
Hello, i know this is an old thread but reading it i felt i had to comment.
I from london england and i grew up with the phraise Chinese Wispers, i was born in 1976 and everyone in our school use that phrase,.
My school was mainly white, england in those days was a prodomanetly white country although we had other ethnic backgrounds in our school including people of Asian desent. Regardless of our ethnic background we all used that phrase and being in primary school (under 11) not one of us would have considered it to be racist.
It was not untill 2 weeks ago, after saying that phrase for the first time in maybe 20 years that my girlfriend who is not from england commented that it wasd racist.
I felt rather anoyed at the time as i am not a racist man and felt that there must be a non derogatory explanation for the oragin.
Hence my discovery of this thread.
Sorry for the long story but here finally is my point, the phrase chines wispers is only used by people who would not even comprohend that it would be offensive.
I very much doubt that anyone uses it specificly to be offensive and like myself grew up with it.
After reading this thread i now know that people do find it offensive and because of this i will not use that term.
But this in itself does not make it racist…. offensive? yes … insensative? yes
racist? … no
Why? the defanition of racisem is: a person who believes in racism, the doctrine that a certain human race is superior to any or all others.
The term racist and racism is thrown around to freely and one should be very careful when using it.
Every culture has derogatory terms for other cultures.
Chines to japanise – english to scotland, spanish to italian everyone as cultures we are all guilty of this and hopefully as we become more enlightened we will get rid of these tentions.
I hope this all makes sence and sorry for the spelling… i am dislexic
thanks
@serifrat, I wrote the article coming from a similar place as yourself. I too was born in 1976, and grew up using the phrase “chinese whispers”. It was only around the time I wrote the article that I started to wonder if maybe it was a racist term.
As regards your point that if there is no racist intent behind the words then they are not racist: technically I would agree with you, as it just turns what would be racist into something that is simply ignorant. Consider if instead of “Chinese whispers” we were instead referring to the nursery rhyme “eenie, meeny, miny, moe”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe
I remember singing that as a child, and I remember singing it with the word “nigger” before I even knew what a nigger was. It was just a funny word to me.
Once I did understand, I stopped doing it.
So no, if a person does not know any better then they can’t be accused of racism. But what if they do?
Hokey pokey? What?!
LOL
Anytime you lump a whole group of people together and collectively call them an insult, it’s racist/sexist/etc/etc. When you codify that racism, then yes, it’s still racist. “chinese whispers” is an insult to all chinese. So, yeah, it’s racist. Just use “telephone” instead, without the added racial insult added.
Also, I’ve only ever heard “hokey pokey”. It would appear any negative connotations to hokey pokey or hokey cokey (which meant “cooky” at the time. Possibly the same word, actually, only with a new Newfoundland accent.) to that phrase originated well after its original creation.
John. Thank you for the information that the parlor game is called “hokey pokey,” but please tell me where you have heard it (Newfoundland?) and approximately between what years. That information will be important for my study of the names of this parlor game.
I was accused of being racist today in a business meeting because I suggested we were open and transparent to ‘avoid Chinese whispers’. It did not occur to me for milisecond that this was an offensive term – for me it was merely a known shortcut to explain what we wanted to avoid – dilution or distortion of a message. I was mortified to be accused of racism, hence tonight searching on line. I guess I was searching for vindication….I didnt get it! Whilst I did not intend to be offensive, to some this phrase clearly is, so I will from now, cease to ever use it…and I will change the name of the game I innocently play with my children.
Helen — You can use the most frequent American English name of the game, telephone.
Helen — Do not let the reaction of your colleagues at the meeting upset you, for there is a big difference between (a) being perceived as offensive when one does not intend to be (= your case) and (2) intending to be offensive. Your colleagues overreacted. They presumably know you well enough to know that (a), not (b), was the case here, so that they should have reacted more courteously, say, by letting one of their number discuss the idiom with you in private, after the meeting.
It would be good to know what the names of the games are in Chinese and other languages of Eastern Asia. By the way, we are not supposed to say “Far East” or “Near East,” because they are Eurocentric terms. I agree. “Western Asia,” “Central Asia,” “Inner Asia,” and “Eastern Asia” are better.
Of course it’s racist, The chinese are by far one of the most intelligent, and ancient societies on earth. To deem them stupid because they can’t understand a language not their own is RACIST.
Mirielle – i grew up in both hong kong and canada and i believe the way Nic named the game in chinese language can be easily understood for those familiar with the language. i also agree with the english translation. both the translation and the chinese phase are not derogatory in nature against any cultures.
It’s an expression – get over it!
The name ‘Chinese Whispers’ was adopted for the game in the UK in the mid 20th century, prior to that it was known as ‘Russian Scandal’ or ‘Russian Gossip’. The reason for the change isn’t clear.
not being a native speaker and unfamiliar with the expression it’s really hard to see how it could be understood as anything but racist. just make up analog expressions, playing on stereotypes involving black people, jews etc. – or Brits for that matter
I understand that this is an old thread, but after hearing a new reader say the phrase ‘Chinese whispers’ on TV I started googling, as I found it offensive. The news story was about an accident on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Details coming out from the theme park were scant, and contradictory in references to how many injured/killed, what occurred and on which ride. I found the phrase just another example of poor journalism and the pervasive nature of racist undertones still, shamefully, present in modern Australian society.
Apparently some people think it’s racist, but I don’t know who. Frank Furedi mentions it in his 2016 book “What’s Happened To The University?”, as an example of “ridiculous and extreme examples [concentrated on by] critics of PC language codes.”
[https://books.google.com/books?id=FPMwDQAAQBAJ&dq=books+what%27s+happened+to+the+university&q=whisper – about half way down the page]
I also grew up in London in the 80s and used this term in my ethnically diverse school (67 language spoken!) and never thought anything of it. They were just words for a game we played with no wider meaning to me.
It wasn’t until I stood in front of an audience in USA in 2013 and used the phrase Chinese whispers to describe the results I was presenting.
The look on their faces – literally mouths dropped open speechless – was all i needed to tell me that this term is racially offensive. That clearly wasn’t my intention when I used the term but any term that can be interpreted instantly by an audience who haven’t heard it before as racist – I knew then I would never use this term again.
I searched for this topic today as yesterday my niece wanted to play this game at lunch time – they are still learning this term at school. I was shocked to hear her say this out loud in a busy restaurant and hoped she wasn’t (unintentionally) offending someone.
As adults we need to take responsibility for the terms we use, even if our intentions are innocent we need to be aware of the impact of our words and what we role model to our children. Causal racism is not ok.
I think the biggest question here has not yet been answered. Assuming it is “offensive” then what term can be used which will be recognised by the audience as having the same meaning? If I use the term “Telephone” nobody will understand it, and given that a telephone conversation is usually a direct communication between two people, then it doesn’t match the scenario at all (multiple people verbally communicating between the source and destination).
BTW, the way the game is played, all participants speak the same language, the point is that even though everyone involved speaks the same language and is smart, there are small changes in the content of the message, which often result in a massive change to the meaning of the message.
The examples I’ve heard of are reports for a large army manouver (eg, send reinforcements tomorrow at noon because we see an approaching large army, but the message that arrives as something like “Come for a party at noon tomorrow because we defeated the army”.
So, I see the name “Chinese Whispers” as originating from china where the process of verbally relaying message through multiple people was common, and the outcome was often devastating or at least unintended. Not a comment of the intelligence of chinese or anything else. The reason the game is played around the world is because the results apply regardless of the language or nationality of the participants.
To me, the point of the game is show that spoken communication can be easily misunderstood, even if you are speaking directly to the person. This is why it is important to verify communication by asking the recipient to tell you what they are going to do.
That’s an interesting point, Adam.
My assumption that it cannot be racist is based on the fact that it’s called ‘whispers’, meaning that there’s an intention to cause miscommunication by making it hard for the information to be passed from one person to another.
The fact that it’s an old saying would mean it pre-dates other forms of communication, and if the information could not be written down, an added element of being in a restrictive situation, such as a soldier in the middle of enemy territory trying to pass back information about an attack.
But if the term ‘Chinese Whispers’ has been appropriated by some to be a racist remark, then you correctly say it cannot be used in the [potentially] harmless way that people could use it.
The options available are:
‘He said, she said’ – which would refer to a back and forth, but not specific to a change in the meaning of the original statement, just a different view point of someone hearing it.
‘Lost in translation’ – could work, but assumes that the communication issue is a result of changing the original remarks into a different language, which simply didn’t have the ability to translate the meaning effectively.
‘Confusion down the line’ – as in confusion down the line, which is potentially similar in the military terminology of information moving through a number of people.
Or you can just use a word, such as ‘misunderstanding’ 🙂
I had heard that Chines Whispers referred to the practice of keeping Chinese officials and the Emperor etc isolated with many levels of servants.
So any message sent to the Emperor or the Mandarins or whoever would be distorted by constant retelling as it was passed up through the levels of servants.
Never seemed racist to me.
People are so easily offended and don’t have any subtlety. There is a difference between racist comments and a comment that has a racial connotation. Both possibly should be avoided but only one is abhorrent.
@Scott, why do you assume that your etymology is the correct one? Wikipedia does not agree with you, for example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers#Etymology
As an Asian Canadian I find it offensive to hear “Chinese whispers” in a sentence. I’ve never heard of it until today since I’ve grown up in a multicultural society. I mean now that we sort knew the origin of this, and none of it sounds positive. Why would we continue to use it? Why not just used the more mainstream version of it- the broken telephone? Just my two cents.
@Halli,
When you say “more mainstream” it sounds like you are arguing for merely the most common name, but I don’t think you meant that. I think you actually meant something like, “why use a possibly offensive name when we have the name telephone which is not offensive?”
The problem of course with appealing to the norm (“mainstream”) is that sometimes the norm isn’t right. Before every major moral advancement there was a time when the opposite was the norm. And in this case, I grew up in a society where “Chinese Whispers” was the mainstream accepted term, and no one—least of all me as a child—questioned that. So if you had come to me then and told me to “use the mainstream term,” I’d have told you that I was!
But like I say, I don’t think that is quite what you meant.
@Andy,
Yes, thank you for clarifying what I really meant. Although I have to say being ignorant in 2017 is in some ways worse than consciously being racist. People should be aware of their social environment and be engaged broadly; especially with the advancement of technology, we are connected wirelessly with the world more than ever.. I have not met too many people that are ignorant so I do give people a couple of chances, and if I’ve communicated what makes me feel uncomfortable and people are still ignoring it based on jargons then I think it’s not worth my time trying to explain. (Not saying you are that way but some folks might use that as an excuse to perpetuate their ignorance)
It seems to have a racist or at least racially insensitive origin based on the wikipedia article about Chinese firedrill. This game is also popular and known as chinese whispers in Sri Lanka however I assure you its use there is borrowed from the old British colonisers and in its use there it’s simply the name given to a particular game. But due to its insensitiveness I will be sure to let my countrymen know of its origins and discourage its use.
Oh, the facism of over sensitivity. Seems like the thought police are wanting to re-write history so that nobody can get ‘offended’.
Most people in England will recognise the term ‘Chinese whispers’, but they don’t use it as an insult to the Chinese. If you are offended by this, then I ban the use of the term ‘English muffin’, since it sounds like you are implying that English people are stupid.
Also, I find the word ‘telephone’ offensive, so I ban the use of it by everybody else.
Offense has clearly been taken here looking at the comments, though its also clear that its not intended since the term is in common usage
Before lumping it under the PC gone mad category – which it may be – its worth considering that yellow peril style cultural propaganda is not without precedence in the English language, a relic from a less peaceful time. Certainly there are other examples of this in the English language, and regardless of their origin or intention they contribute to conscious and unconscious biases in modern society.
Asking “is word x racist” is kind of moot, the words themselves cant act without a speaker or listener, and so the answer probably depends on the intention of the speaker and sensitivities of the listener.
Personally, hearing the term Chinese whispers makes me cringe. Id put it in the same category as Chinese burns and c***g c***g Chinaman rhymes.
Leave it in the past and move on