Chinese fire drill

noun

A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.

Similar
fire drillPolish fire drill
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Meanings

nounChinese fire drill (plural Chinese fire drills)

plural Chinese fire drills

  1. USA prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.
  2. USderogatoryA silly, pointless exercise.

    Synonyms: fire drill, Polish fire drill

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA silly, pointless exercise.

Similar
fire drillPolish fire drill
Also see
fire drillpolish fire drill

Origin

Perhaps from the World War I era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic and racial slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish chaotyczna sytuacja
  • chaotyczna sytuacjaprank
Spanish simulacro de incendio de China
  • simulacro de incendio de Chinaprank
Cite this entry
APA

Chinese fire drill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20fire%20drill

MLA

“Chinese fire drill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20fire%20drill. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Chinese fire drill,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chinese%20fire%20drill.

Source: Chinese fire drill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.