# Is "chink in the armor" an offensive racist term? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563 "2012-02-21T21:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/41 "2012-02-22T00:54:45Z")
When I was a kid, some forty or so years ago, we knew that Chink was a bad word for a Chinese person, just like a lot of other racial slurs. Using the phrase ‘chink in the armour’ in reference to an Asian man, is indeed a good pun, but I don’t see it being innocent or inoffensive. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/42 "2012-02-22T01:48:47Z")
> [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](#): > > I think the phrase is only offensive in a given context. If they make another Iron Man movie in the villain discovers a weakness in Tony Stark’s armor and exploits it and he calls it the chink in his armor, that is not racist. Doubly so since the villain for Iron Man 3 is rumored to be The Mandarin. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/43 "2012-02-22T01:52:01Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Aside from maybe one or two times in my life, I haven’t ever anyone say “niggardly” unless they were whining about not being able to say it. Seriously. The reason there ever was a brouhaha in the first place was because the word was used so rarely in the first place. And all of you whining about not being able to use it, who’s stopping you? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/44 "2012-02-22T02:24:10Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > There was no racist connotation whatsoever. Bullshit. As applied to Lin, who is of Chinese ancestry, there is clearly a racist connotation, whether intentional or merely negligent. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/45 "2012-02-22T02:57:24Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Bullshit. As applied to Lin, who is of Chinese ancestry, there is clearly a racist connotation, whether intentional or merely negligent. There is absolutely nothing racist with that phrase when applied properly, which in this case it was. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/46 "2012-02-22T03:27:30Z")
I think the headline was done with racist intent. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/47 "2012-02-22T03:31:48Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > “Niggard”, yes. But I have heard “niggardly” from time to time; maybe from older people. I’ve never heard anyone under the age of 40 or so use it. Niggardly armor is more likely to have chinks in it. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/48 "2012-02-22T03:37:17Z")
Times I have heard or read a sports headline referring to a loss after a series of victories by any athlete other than Lin as “a chink in the armor”: Zero. First loss after a series of outstanding games by an American born athlete of Chinese descent and, just out of shear coincidence, the word “chink” is used. Yeah, just _coincidence,_ no racist pun being made … you keep believing that, **DigitalC**. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/49 "2012-02-22T04:24:37Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > First loss after a series of outstanding games by an American born athlete of Chinese descent and, just out of shear coincidence, the word “chink” is used. In what was was it not a valid use of the phrase in the context in which it was? The guy commits a lot of turn overs and the knicks finally lose a game, a situation which exactly fits the meaning of the word. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/50 "2012-02-22T04:46:52Z")
The phrase is not racist _per se_. However, used to describe the actions of a Chinese basketball player, duh, _of course it fucking is_. I honestly can’t believe anyone is hand-waving this away. I spent a brief time writing for a newspaper. In my experience subeditors are not stupid, they’re wordsmiths - they consider headlines carefully and look at them from several angles before committing them to print. They knew what they were doing. ETA: and if they didn’t, they don’t deserve to keep their job. TL:DR: depends on context. Anyone remember this article? > [@](#): > > **Misys gives Pecker head job** > By Nick Lord 05 March 2004 [financeasia.com](http://financeasia.com) > > _Rudi Pecker assumes position in top slot in Asia._ > > After 14 years inside Misys in Europe, Rudi Pecker has been elevated to the financial technology company’s Singapore office, to become head of Asia Pacific sales. In this role, Pecker will head all Misys’ strategic and commercial activities in the region, aiming to grow the business and enter into long term relationships. Pecker’s breadth of experience, with over 20 years in the financial services industry, will enable him to rise to the challenges of growing the business in Asia, a region fertile for expansion. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/51 "2012-02-22T04:47:17Z")
I said no, but I can see how it could be in a headline in a field where people often use puns. Even then I’d give the benefit of the doubt absent more evidence of racism. I actually thought the term chink as a term of racist abuse was really uncommon now. I remember one time a Chinese ex of mine was called a chink and was surprised because she hadn’t heard it for so long. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/52 "2012-02-22T05:07:58Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > In what was was it not a valid use of the phrase in the context in which it was? The guy commits a lot of turn overs and the knicks finally lose a game, a situation which exactly fits the meaning of the word. Uh yes. That is how puns work. If it did not have two meanings, both of which that made sense, then it would not have been a pun. (There are not roll eyes big enough.) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/53 "2012-02-22T05:19:31Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > Exactly. What’s wrong with _ **tight, pennypinching, stingy, miserly, cheap, chintzy, tightfisted, scrimpy** _? It wasn’t until the 1st “n word” controversy that I was aware of, that I even heard the word. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/54 "2012-02-23T06:02:35Z")
I think people that worry about it need to get lives. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/55 "2012-02-23T09:18:00Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Doubly so since the villain for Iron Man 3 is rumored to be The Mandarin. Does he steal Iron Man’s suit? THAT might be a tad over the line. ---
**Author:** ![Scholar\_Beardpig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Scholar\_Beardpig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scholar_Beardpig)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/56 "2012-02-23T11:53:19Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I’ll raise you one in that it has to be a _very specific_ scenario to be racist. Saying that a person who is Chinese has a chink in their armor isn’t really that offensive, more because the slur makes no sense when you look at it. But if you have a body of people, of which a Chinese person is the member in question, and say the group has a “chink in their armor” it’d be more offensive because the “armor” could be interpreted as the group, and the chink as the, well, Chinese person. Nailed it, I think. The word ‘chink’ on its own is inoffensive, and if you’re talking about things that have genuine chinks in them, like armor, then you can use it all day without a problem. We’ll call that the A-definition. Calling someone a chink as a slur for Chinese, on the other hand, that’s unambiguously bad. Call it the B-definition. This particular perfect storm of outrage came when someone who someone else might called B-chink, but referring to him as an A-chink… that’s just grotesque. Unless it sincerely never occurred to the writer that ‘chink’ is an ethnic slur, then it should have flashed in front of his eyes instantly and he should have checked himself. This is serious bad taste. On the other hand, if there was a convention of Asian-American BDSM enthusiasts, and they put on a parade of people in gimp outfits, a reporter could, I feel, call it ‘a parade of zipperheads’ and convincingly plead innocence. But I think ‘chink’ is too fresh in the mind for that to work. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/57 "2012-02-23T16:10:32Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I think people that worry about it need to get lives. Naturally, I was directing this at those that are actually getting into a huff about it, not those who want to discuss/argue/etc… about it. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/58 "2012-02-24T02:23:47Z")
This reminds me of an incident here (Seattle area) a few years ago. Some minor bureaucrat used the ancient and honorable word ‘niggardly’ in a perfectly correct way to describe something in the budgeting process that he considered less than adequate for the subject of the budget (in a word, stingy). Well this stirred up a firestorm in the media here, and IIRC the guy got fired. Can’t be too careful when talking to the media, even if one is a lot better educated than they are. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/59 "2012-02-24T13:52:02Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > This reminds me of an incident here (Seattle area) a few years ago. Some minor bureaucrat used the ancient and honorable word ‘niggardly’ in a perfectly correct way to describe something in the budgeting process … You see that would be a parallel IF the bureaucrat was using that rarely used word to criticize a hypothetically newly elected Black mayor of Seattle cutting services rather than raising taxes. Oh let’s imagine this as a headline in the paper: > [@imaginary headline](#): > > **New Mayor Niggardly with Budget** Yup, a perfectly “correct” use of the word. Y’all are just too sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563/60 "2012-02-24T14:01:11Z")
_In the context of the Lin brouhaha_, clearly offensive. Most other uses, fine. It’s like the term “disarming.” A perfectly useable word, even after that rapist cut the girl’s arms off. But if you headlined “ **Convicted rapist/dismemberer gives disarming interview** ,” you’d be fired. But it would still be a useful word _in other contexts_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chink-in-the-armor-an-offensive-racist-term/613563.md?page=4)