My parents were the best at integrating phrases, such as the above, into their
daily language. Conseguently, we do the same without giving it much
thought. To the amusement of his older children, this past Sunday, my
pastor brother used the term “a Chinese junkyard” in his sermon. (I wasn’t
present but heard about it afterward.) The problem is that his college
aged son had his Chinese girlfriend in attendence at the church that morning
and she wants to know what was meant by a Chinese junkyard. She lives in
Hong Kong and is attending school in the states, so does not have much
experience with our strange English lanquage and terms. I’m beginning to
think we don’t either.
Does anyone have any idea where this phrase originated?
My thought on reading the thread title was something akin to the “Before and After” clues on Wheel of Fortune, where 2 unrelated phrases are tied together with a common word. In this case, “Chinese junk” and “junkyard” are combined to make “Chinese junkyard.”
It’d probably help if the OP also can convey the contexts in which his/her parents used the expression.
If it was say a description of the kids’ hopelessly untidy room, then probably it’s along the same lines as “Chinese firedrill” or “Mexican standoff” or “Dutch courage.” Which is to say mildly chauvinistic characterizations of an “other” group. I’ve used Chinese firedrill with Chinese acquaintances (some of whom were all to ready to agree that other Chinese, maybe not them, tended to live in squalorous or disordered or chaotic conditions).
Also, “Chinese junk” was ready to hand because of the boat, so maybe someone was just making a play on that.
According to members of the family that I have asked, Chinese Junkyard, is used to describe a very messy place of some sort. I just don’t understand why a Chinese Junkyard or “Junk” yard, would be any messier than a junkyard of any other nationality. Maybe as a couple of you stated, it is just our way of making statements like Chinese Firedrill, etc. As a nation we seem to like the putdowns that make us feel superior. (…or IS it just our nation?)
In my experience, Chinese junkyards are better organized that your standard junkyard. There is a strong indigenous recycling culture (no doubt due to poverty) so every useful bit gets sorted. My host family used to take their trash down to the junkyard, where they’d get paid some small amount. They’d even bargain and move on the the next junkyard if they didn’t get the price they wanted. The junkyards themselves were organized into pretty orderly piles.
Thinking back on a cool mineral specimen I used to have, which I was told was a “Chinese Algebra” rock, I have come to the conclusion that most often the word “Chinese” in English phrases denotes something that we consider incredibly complicated or confusing – not just algebra, but Chinese Algebra, another order of magnitude. (Not just tax law, but Chinese tax law… see what I mean?)
When the Chinese and American cultures first became well-acquainted, I’m sure there were a lot of things that they found mutually incomprehensible. And probably still are.
Think of it as a whimsical sort of bemusement. Like when you try to figure out what the pictograms mean in an unfamiliar car.
P.S. even sven: Are you saying that in Communist China, junkyard pay you?
In English, to use Chinese as an adjective or noun to describe something was usually considered offensive(and meant that way).
It dates back to WWI(with a very few earlier exceptions) and I’ve seen contemporary references to the possibility the Yanks picked it up from the Brits.
Examples: (1918)
Most of the early cites are from the military, but then it creeps into sports(1934)
Chinese fire drill comes along about WWII, with the actual first cite being
*All cites courtesy of Jon Lighter at the Historical Dictionary of American Slang
I’ve heard the term “Chinese (Thing)” used to denote something especially chaotic, disorganised, or thrown together- a group planning meeting being called a “Chinese Parliament” (because everyone is talking at once and it’s not going to lead anywhere or achieve anything productive), and the playground game “Chinese Whispers” (where the message gets more and more garbled as it’s transmitted from person to person), to name two examples.
So, without any further context than that given to us by the OP, I’d say a “Chinese Junkyard” is probably an incredible mess or disorganised thing- a Junkyard being incredibly messy, and a Chinese one presumably being even more so (or at least that’s the connotation, IMHO).
linfran68, as far as we’ve been able to determine in this thread, the members of your family are the only people who use the term “Chinese junkyard” in that meaning.