yellow cab

English

Etymology

Originally selected owing to yellow's high visibility and common in horsedrawn form in Paris and London in the 1800s and New York in the 1880s. Now chiefly associated with the yellow automotive taxicabs popularized around New York by the Yellow Taxicab Co. In reference to sexually available Asian women, a calque of Japanese イエローキャブ (ierō kyabu), from English yellow cab and popularized by Shōko Ieda's 1991 novel by that name, from its female characters' supposed "yellow" skin and the notion they provided "rides" to the general public.

Pronunciation

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Noun

yellow cab (plural yellow cabs)

1. (US, chiefly New York City) Synonym of taxi.
2. (Japanese, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Asian woman who sleeps with white men, particularly such Japanese women when regarded as a race traitor.

   Despite its ubiquity in 1990s Japanese culture, one telephone survey of 200 people conducted in the New York area did not find a single individual familiar with the use of the term "yellow cab" in reference to Japanese or Asian women.

Synonyms

• amejo, sarong party girl

Hypernyms

• race traitor

References

• “yellow, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.