#DRUNK CHINESE FIRE DRILL FULL#

Interestingly, Chinese landing and the one wing low pun were both so entrenched in military lingo that they were included in the 1944 edition of The Official Guide To The Army Air Forces.

These included a 'Chinese ace,' which referred to an incompetent pilot 'Chinese national anthem,' to describe an explosion and 'Chinese landing,' which was used by pilots to refer to bumpy, dangerous touchdowns because the aircraft had 'one wing low' (a cringeworthy joke about what Asian languages sound like that should sound a bit familiar). Starting around World War I, the descriptor 'Chinese' began to be frequently added to phrases to describe situations that were confusing, incomprehensible and messy. The second was a reference to a traffic accident that a December 1962 issue of American Speech described as 'an accident scene of great confusion, such as a school-bus or cattle-truck upset.'īut the question remains: What exactly is 'Chinese' about either of these definitions? While a 1996 post on the Random House Word of the Day blog states that 'Chinese here is not necessarily a racial sentiment,' its hard to see how that's true. One of the most famous pop culture references to the game appears in the opening of the early seasons of the classic 1970s sitcom Happy Days, in which Richie Cunningham and friends can be seen racing around his car, holding up traffic in the process.Īs car culture reached its height in the 1950s and 1960s, the expression 'Chinese fire drill' developed two meanings. Anyone who fails to get back into the car is left behind as the rest zoom off. Everyone then gets out and runs around the car until just before the light changes back to green, with all participants jumping inside the closest door.

#DRUNK CHINESE FIRE DRILL FULL#

Here's how it works: A car full of people, usually teenagers, stops at a red light. Enter the phrase ' Chinese fire drill' into YouTube and you'll find page upon page of videos of a classic car prank that's been popular since the 1960s.įor the uninitiated, a 'Chinese fire drill' can be described as a form of vehicular musical chairs.

Drunk chinese fire drill