Chinky

This article is about the British slang. For the ethnic slur, see Chink.

A Chinese takeaway in Birkenhead, Merseyside, seen here in March 2012.

In the United Kingdom, chinky (or chinky chonky,[1]) is a slur for a Chinese takeaway restaurant or Chinese food and Chinese people.[2]

In 2002, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, after a complaint about the BBC One programme The Vicar of Dibley, held that when used as the name of a type of restaurant or meal, rather than as an adjective applied to a person or group of people, the word still carries extreme racist connotation which causes offence particularly to those of East Asian origin.[3]

In 2004, the commission's counterpart, the Radio Authority, apologised for the offence caused by an incident where a DJ on Heart 106.2 used the term.[4]

In a 2005 document commissioned by Ofcom titled "Language and Sexual Imagery in Broadcasting: A Contextual Investigation"[5] their definition of chink was "a term of racial offence/abuse. However, this is polarising. Older and mainly white groups tend to think this is not usually used in an abusive way—e.g., let's go to the Chinky—which is not seen as offensive by those who aren't of East Asian origin; Chinky usually refers to food not a culture or race however, younger people, East Asians, particularly people of Chinese racial background and other non-white ethnic minorities feel the word 'Chinky, Chinkies or Chinkie' to be as insulting as 'paki' or 'nigger'."

In 2006, after several campaigns by the Scottish Executive, more people in Scotland now acknowledge that this name is indirectly racist.[6] As of 2016, British broadcasting regulator Ofcom considers the word to be "Strongest language, highly unacceptable without strong contextualisation. Seen as derogatory to Chinese people. More mixed views regarding use of the term to mean ‘Chinese takeaway’".

In 2014, the term gained renewed attention after a recording emerged of UKIP candidate Kerry Smith referring to a woman of Chinese background as a "chinky bird".[7]

## See also[edit]

Look up chinky in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Ching chong – another ethnic slur used against Chinese people

## References[edit]

1. ^ Ray Puxley (2004). Britslang: An Uncensored A-Z of the People's Language, Including Rhyming Slang. Robson. p. 98\. ISBN 1-86105-728-8.
2. ^ "TV's most offensive words". 21 November 2005 - via The Guardian.
3. ^ "The Vicar Of Dibley" (PDF). The Bulletin. Broadcasting Standards Commission. 56 (56): 19. 2002-07-25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-01-04.
4. ^ "Radio Authority Quarterly Complaints Bulletin: April – June 2001" (PDF) (42). Radio Authority. June 2001: 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-01-04. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
5. ^ The Fuse Group (September 2005). "Language and Sexual Imagery in Broadcasting: A Contextual Investigation" (PDF). Ofcom.
6. ^ Scottish Executive (2006-09-13). "One Scotland Many Cultures 2005/2006 — Waves 6 and 7 Campaign Evaluation" (PDF).
7. ^ "Farage defends 'rough diamond' former UKIP candidate". BBC.

* v
* t
* e

Anti-Chinese sentiment (Sinophobia)

Background|

* Coolie
* Yellow Peril
* Chinese emigration
* The Unparalleled Invasion
* Japanese nationalism
* De-Sinicization

By persecutor|

* Adriaan Valckenier
* Andrew Jackson Bryant
* Denis Kearney
* Hideki Tojo
* Suharto
* Pol Pot
* Plaek Phibunsongkhram
* Hamengkubuwono IX

By country|

* Hong Kong
* India
* Indonesia
* Japan
* Korea
* Laos
* Malaysia
* Racism in Malaysia
* Ketuanan Melayu
* Myanmar
* Nazi Germany
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Taiwan
* Thailand
* United States
* China Initiative
* Vietnam

By institution|

* Anti-Chinese Union
* Asiatic Exclusion League
* Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees
* Tsagaan Khas
* Uyoku dantai

By incident|

| 17th century|

* Sangley Rebellion (1603)
* 2nd Sangley Rebellion (1639)
* Sangley Massacre (1662)

|

18th century|

* 1740 Batavia massacre
* 1782 Saigon massacre

19th century|

* Buckland Riot (1857)
* Lambing Flat riots (1860–1861)
* Anti-Coolie Act (1862)
* Chinese massacre of 1871
* Pigtail Ordinance (1873)
* Page Act of 1875
* Trout Creek Outrage (1876)
* San Francisco riot of 1877
* New Zealand head tax (1881–1944)
* Chinese Exclusion Act (1882–1943)
* Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (1885)
* Chinese Immigration Act of 1885
* Attack on Squak Valley Chinese laborers, 1885
* Issaquah riot of 1885
* Tacoma riot of 1885
* Rock Springs massacre (1885)
* 1885 Chinese expulsion from Eureka
* Chinese head tax in Canada (1885–1923)
* Seattle riot of 1886
* Vancouver anti-Chinese riots, 1886
* Hells Canyon massacre (1887)
* Scott Act (1888)
* Geary Act (1892–1943)
* Union Colliery Co of British Columbia v Bryden (1899)

20th century|

* White Australia policy (1901–1973)
* Vancouver anti-Asian riots (1907)
* Beipu uprising (1907)
* Torreón massacre (1911)
* 1918 Kudus riot
* Soviet deportations of Chinese people (1920s–1930s)
* Chinese Immigration Act, 1923
* Wanpaoshan Incident (1931)
* Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
* Nanking Massacre (1937–1938)
* Japanese war crimes
* Three Alls Policy
* Sook Ching massacre (1942)
* Changkiao massacre (1943)
* Home Office 213/926 (1945–1946)
* Mergosono massacre (1947)
* Legislation on Chinese Indonesians (1950s-)
* Chinese Confession Program (1956–1965)
* Internment of Chinese-Indians (1962)
* 1964 race riots in Singapore
* Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66
* 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma
* Monosodium glutamate controversy (Chinese restaurant syndrome)
* 13 May incident (Malaysia) (1969)
* 1969 race riots of Singapore
* Cambodian genocide (1975–1979)
* 1997 Banjarmasin riot
* May 1998 riots of Indonesia

21st century|

* 2006 Nukuʻalofa riots
* Abacus Bank prosecution
* 2008 Kunming bus bombings
* July 2009 Ürümqi riots
* 2011 Kashgar attacks
* 2013 Tiananmen Square attack
* 2014 Vietnam anti-China protests
* 2014 Kunming attack
* April 2014 Ürümqi attack
* May 2014 Ürümqi attack
* 2015 Aksu colliery attack
* China–United States trade war
* Artificial Intelligence Cold War
* China Initiative
* COVID-19 pandemic incidents
* 2021 Solomon Islands unrest
* Boycotts of Chinese products

By victim|

| 19th century|

* Chae Chan Ping
* Fong Yue Ting
* Mary Tape
* Wong Kim Ark
* Yick Wo

|

20th century|

* Ita Martadinata Haryono
* Qian Xuesen
* Velma Demerson
* Wen Ho Lee

21st century|

* Anming Hu
* Danny Chen
* Ee Lee
* Eileen Gu
* Franklin Feng Tao
* Gang Chen
* Haoyang Yu
* Jiayang Fan
* Leung Chi-cheung
* Sherry Chen
* Teoh Beng Hock
* Xiaoxing Xi
* Yao Pan Ma

Slurs|

* Chinaman
* Chinaman's chance
* Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees
* Ching chong
* Chink
* Chinky
* Locust/Wongchung
* Shina/Zhina
* Sick man of Asia

* v
* t
* e

Ethnic slurs

by ethnicity

Africans|

| Blacks|

* Abeed
* Alligator bait
* Black American princess
* Black Buck
* Black Diamond
* Boerehaat
* Choc ice
* Cocolo
* Colored
* Cushi
* Golliwog
* House Negro
* Jim Crow
* Kaffir
* Macaca
* Mammy
* Negro
* Nigger (Nigga)
* Pickaninny
* Rastus
* Queen / Queenie
* Sambo
* Tar-Baby
* Uncle Tom
* Wog

|

Americans
(North and South)|

| Mixed|

* Beaner (Mexicans)
* Greaser
* Half-breed
* Naco
* Pocho (non-Spanish speaking Hispanics)
* Spic
* Wetback

|

Indigenous|

* Cholo (Mestizos)
* Eskimo (Inuit / Yupik / Unangan),
* Indian/Injun (Native American / First Nations / American Indian)
* Redskin/Red Indian (Native American / First Nations)
* Squaw (Native American women)

Whites|

* Buckra
* Coonass (Cajuns)
* Cracker
* Gringo
* Haole
* Hillbilly / Hilljack
* Honky
* Peckerwood
* Pindos
* Redneck
* Swamp Yankee
* Trailer trash
* White trash
* Whitey

Others|

* Canuck (Canadians)
* Coonass (Cajuns)
* Newfie (Newfoundlander)
* Okie (Oklahomans)
* Roto (Chileans)
* Sudaca (Central and South Americans)
* Yank / Yankee (Americans)

Asians|

| East Asians|

| General|

* Banana (westernized East Asians)
* Gook
* Sangokujin
* Twinkie (westernized East Asians)

|

Chinese|

* Ah Beng
* American-born Chinese (ABC)
* Chinaman
* Ching chong
* Chink
* Chinky
* Coolie
* Jook-sing (overseas / westernized Chinese)
* Locust
* Shina

Japanese|

* Jap
* Jjokbari
* Nip
* Xiao Riben

Koreans|

* Gaoli bangzi
* Sangokujin (also Chinese)

South Asians|

| General|

* American-Born Confused Desi (ABCD)
* Coconut (westernized South Asians)
* Coolie

|

Bengali Hindus|

* Bong
* Bongal
* Danchi babu
* Dkhar
* Malaun
* Mayang

Indians|

* Chinki (Northeast Indians)
* Coolie
* Keling (Maritime Southeast Asian-origin Indians)

Pakistanis|

* Paki

Europeans|

| General|

* Ang mo
* Bule
* Cracker
* Farang
* Guiri
* Guizi
* Gweilo
* Honky
* Mat Salleh
* Redleg
* Wasi'chu
* Wigger
* Wog

|

Albanians|

* Šiptar
* Turco-Albanian

British|

* Limey (English people)
* Pom
* Sheep shagger (Welsh people)
* Taffy (Welsh people)
* Teuchter (Scottish Highlanders)

Dutch|

* Cheesehead

Finns|

* Chukhna
* China Swede
* Finnjävel

French|

* Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
* Frog
* Gabacho

Germans|

* Hun
* Kraut

Greeks|

* Grecoman

Irish|

* Fenian (Republicans)
* Knacker (Irish Travellers)
* Pikey (Irish Travellers)
* Shoneen (Anglophile Irish)
* Taig (Irish Catholics)

Italians|

* Dago
* Goombah
* Greaseball
* Guido
* Guinea
* Polentone (Northern Italians)
* Sardegnolo (Sardinians)
* Sheep shagger (Sardinians)
* Terrone (South Italians)
* Wop
* Wog

Poles|

* Polack
* Pshek

Russians|

* Moskal
* Tibla

Serbs|

* Shkije
* Serbomans

Spaniards|

* Dago
* Gachupín
* Polaco
* Xarnego

Ukrainians|

* Khokhol
* Ukrop

Others|

* Bulgarophiles (Macedonians and Serbs)
* Yestonians (Russified Estonians)

Arabs|

* Rafida (Shi'ites)
* Raghead
* Wog

Jews|

* Christ killer
* Jewish-American princess (JAP)
* Kafir
* Khazar (Ashkenazi Jews)
* Kike
* Marrano (Conversos / Crypto-Jews)
* Rootless cosmopolitan
* Wog
* Yekke (German Jews)
* Yid
* Zhyd / Zhydovka
* Żydokomuna

Oceanians|

* Blackfella (Indigenous Australians)
* Hori (Māori)
* Kanaka (Pacific Islander)
* Coconut (Pacific Islander)

Turks|

* Kebab
* Mongol
* Kanake

Romani|

* Didicoy
* Gypsies
* Nawar
* Zott

Outsiders|

* Ajam (non-Arabs)
* Barbarian
* Fresh off the boat / F.O.B. (immigrant)
* Gadjo (non-Romani)
* Gaijin (non-Japanese)
* Goy (non-Jew)
* Kafir (non-believer) (pl. Kuffar)
* Laowai (non-Chinese)
* Reffo / Balt (Non-Anglo immigrant to Australia)
* Shegetz (non-Jewish boy or man) (pl. Shkutzim)
* Shiksa (non-Jewish woman)

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