must have killed a Chinaman

English

Etymology

The Chinese have had a presence in Australia since colonial days, and some folk superstition attached to them. Good fortune was predicted on encountering a Chinese person as one engaged in a bet, and it was supposed that killing such an individual would lead to a disastrous run of bad luck.

Verb

must have killed a Chinaman

1. (Australia, offensive) Used as a whimsical explanation for a run of bad luck.
   • 1925, L. M. Newton, The Story of the Twelfth: A Record of the 12th Battalion, page 132

     It appeared as though someone in the Battalion must have killed a Chinaman, as the weather continued rough and stormy, with strong wind.

Usage notes

• Because of negative historical connotations, the term Chinaman is no longer in appropriate use, and persists only in this expression or similar dated expressions.

Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

References

• “must have killed a Chinaman”, entry in The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Eric Partridge, page 393.
• “I must have killed a Chinaman”, entry in A Dictionary of Catch Phrases: British and American, from the sixteenth century to the present day, Eric Partridge & Paul Beale, page 218.