Chinese Burn

[Besswess88]

Is this racist?

Yea @ComeOnSpringtime! Thanks

It’s not racist at all, as there is no negative connotation. It comes from the effect of practising martial arts (many of which originated in China), and which cause burns from holding the arm or leg of the person who has just been thrown, in 1-1 combat, where the person who has been thrown and is held tries to twist out of their grip. (You wouldn’t associate verbal negativity in reporting a graze, for example, but a Chinese burn is a stretch-graze, so the cause is different from a scrape)
There is a similar claim about racism in the term “Indian Summer”, but there are no confirmations cited about this being racist, either, just an incorrect conflation with another term (which can be perceived as derogatory): “Indian Giver” - which means someone who gives a gift, then takes it back later.
I suppose if anyone takes offence at either of these, you could use “martial arts burn” or “second summer” as alternatives - but language used in cases where there is no proof of any historic negativity shouldn’t be always censored, just in case someone (of the hard-of-thinking mentality) might misinterpret it because they haven’t bothered to check facts…

BRILLIANT post @Notjustanymum ^

Yes

I haven't heard the term for a long time, but always assumed it was to do with martial arts, as it's a way to inflict pain without needing a lot of physical force to do it. This is the point of a lot of martial arts, and why they are particularly good for self defence for women. As most martial arts derive from China or Japan, I thought that was why it was called a Chinese burn. Not particularly racist as it's not derogatory, just a technique.

People haven't bothered to look into the facts and just call it 'racist' because it has the word Chinese in it.

There is no negative connotation at all...

@AutumnAlmanack

Oh heck - I've heard it all now! Here are some more for you to mull over:-

Chinese Skips
French Cricket
Belgian Bun
Dutch Uncle
Portuguese Man-o-War
To 'Welsh' on someone

I thought the verb "to welch" was spelt with a C? The Welsh are the people of Wales.

I was brought up believing it was called a Chinese burn as that's how Chinese parents used to discipline their kids. So I would say racist

@Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday

Liverpool kiss

Assuming that's like a Glasgow kiss?

It’s Indian burn in French (as in American Indians, not people from India). No idea where it is coming from though.

Do other countries have names for things that relate to Britain/UK (sorry, don't know the difference) and if so, would it be racist towards us?

@Knockoneofftheshelftowin

Do other countries have names for things that relate to Britain/UK (sorry, don't know the difference) and if so, would it be racist towards us?

Rather ironically, "filer à l'anglaise" is the equivalent to "taking French leave"

@Knockoneofftheshelftowin

Do other countries have names for things that relate to Britain/UK (sorry, don't know the difference) and if so, would it be racist towards us?

Racism is built on structural power, and as a predominantly white nation who colonised much of the world, the answer would be no, you cant be racist towards the UK.

Of corse you can. Anything that is used to put
a race or nation down is racist/xenophobic.

It’s not a competition to see who has the least power? Otherwise why not go the whole hog and create a balanced scorecard based around sex, class, wealth, family background, looks, height, ability…

@KittenKong

Of corse you can. Anything that is used to put a race or nation down is racist/xenophobic.

It’s not a competition to see who has the least power? Otherwise why not go the whole hog and create a balanced scorecard based around sex, class, wealth, family background, looks, height, ability…

You can literally google the definition of racism and correct yourself.

So on paper me as a w/c scottish woman is more ‘powerful’ than say the sultan of Brunei?

@KittenKong

Of corse you can. Anything that is used to put a race or nation down is racist/xenophobic.

It’s not a competition to see who has the least power? Otherwise why not go the whole hog and create a balanced scorecard based around sex, class, wealth, family background, looks, height, ability…

The law recognises racism against white people, as it should.

In academia, however, the argument has moved on: white people have race privilege therefore they cannot be the victim if racism. If the Sultan of Brunei discriminates against a white woman from the East End of Glasgow I suppose he'd be acting on male or class privilege, not race.

It's all very oddly prescriptive in my view.

So on paper me as a w/c scottish woman is more ‘powerful’ than say the sultan of Brunei?

The pp mentioned structural basis, not individual.

Even if it was, comparing yourself with the Sultan of Brunei isn't comparing like for like. False equivalence. You'd compare yourself with another w/c woman in Brunei.

I guess so, kitten! Thankfully I’ve not been on the receiving end.

Racism is built on structural power ... you cant be racist towards the UK.

So UK has more "structural power" than China? Xi Jinping is laughing at you.

@Momicrone

Irish goodbye?

I used this term on a thread once, went about my days business only to come back to see my comment deleted and some very uppity responses from people telling me to check my privilege.

My comment was reinstated when another poster who knew me correctly pointed out that I was in fact Irish

The ‘martial arts’ explanation seemingly comes solely from one bloke who posted it on the LBC website. His qualifications? He practices an Israeli form of martial arts.

I don’t put much stock in that, particularly given the use of “Indian Burn” in the US.

Chinese Skips the game originated in China.
French Cricket unclear. Either adopted to be disparaging towards the French, or due to the similarity in batting compared to croquet (often wrongly believed to be a game that originated in France)
Belgian Bun thought to have been inspired by a traditional Belgian baked good.
Dutch Uncle widely accepted to have originated as a disparaging term toward the Dutch, during the Anglo-Dutch wars (along with Dutch courage, double Dutch and alike).
Portuguese Man-o-War the ships? They were Portuguese. They jellyfish-like animal? Thought to look like the ships.
To 'Welsh' on someone the word is ‘welch’.

@SerialNo

The ‘martial arts’ explanation seemingly comes solely from one bloke who posted it on the LBC website. His qualifications? He practices an Israeli form of martial arts.

I don’t put much stock in that, particularly given the use of “Indian Burn” in the US.

The people saying it's come from martial arts are literally Googling it and just clicking the first link at the top of the page.