Chinese copy

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noun Slang: Usually Offensive.

an exact copy, including all errors.

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Origin of Chinese copy

First recorded in 1915–20

usage note for Chinese copy

This term is usually perceived as insulting to or by the Chinese. It may refer to the stereotype that Asian workers copy Western products and produce a cheaper version or to the notion that people whose native language is markedly different from English are incapable of recognizing errors in English writing. By the late 1800s, Chinese was being used in American military slang as an adjective meaning “inferior, clumsy, abnormal, etc.” See also Chinese.

Words nearby Chinese copy

Chinese calendar, Chinese checkers, Chinese chequers, Chinese chess, Chinese Chippendale, Chinese copy, Chinese crescent, Chinese crested, Chinese date, Chinese eddo, Chinese Empire

How to use Chinese copy in a sentence

The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Monitoring Chinese social-media platforms has paid off for the Chinese government.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think|Brendon Hong|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
HONG KONG—Last year, I met a Chinese graduate student on a tour of the northeastern United States before his first day at Harvard.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think|Brendon Hong|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Tampa Bay Times got their hands on a full copy of the letter the retired judge sent to Winston.
Jameis Winston Cleared of Rape Like Every Other College Sports Star|Robert Silverman|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

We ought to seek Chinese cooperation in a response to this North Korean act of aggression.
Obama Could Hit China to Punish North Korea|Shane Harris, Tim Mak|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Undesirable inhabitants of the country are being sent away, especially the Japanese, who are more dangerous than the Chinese.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
Rich natives and Chinese lost large sums of money, the total of which cannot be ascertained.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Besides, we now know that the plant which furnishes the Chinese tobacco is even said to grow wild in the East Indies.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
You were obliging enough to ask me to accept a presentation copy of your verses.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
Then, child, you've fallen on your head, if you don't know that at least you must have a second copy of the concerto!
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for Chinese copy

Chinese copy

noun

an exact copy of an original

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012