![]() The activity was popularized during that time with its performance by the characters on Happy Days. By the 1970s, people were replicating such scenes by exiting their car, running around, and re-entering it, making it a game to avoid being left behind. Around the 1960s, people began using it to describe auto accident scenes featuring mass confusion and hysteria. Essentially, this Chinese fire drill was a circular, fruitless, disordered action - and thus the term found its meaning.Īs far as the phrase’s association with automobiles specifically, even less documented. The process - likely confused in translation or in disseminating its execution - resulted in crewmen drawing water from the starboard side, bypassing the engine room, and dumping it over the port side. One group was supposed to gather water from the starboard side of the vessel and dump it in the engine room, while another group scooped up that water and disposed of it on the port side. According to the tale, the Chinese crew misunderstood the British officers’ instructions to gather buckets of water to put out an imaginary engine fire. The most commonly attributed origin - though it’s not officially documented - involves a possibly real-life fire drill exercise on a British ship in the early 20th century. But, how did that modifier and its relation to a fire drill come to be associated with running around a car? ![]() Americans used this negative slang term to describe things that were confusing, chaotic, senseless, or poor quality. The second was a reference to a traffic accident that a December 1962 issue of American Speech described as 'an accident scene of great confusion, such as a school-bus or cattle-truck upset. The possible origin of the phrase and act of the “Chinese fire drill”Īccording to research done by NPR, the word “ Chinese” became a common derogatory attributive in the late 1800s and early 1900s, based in anti-Asian sentiment. As car culture reached its height in the 1950s and 1960s, the expression 'Chinese fire drill' developed two meanings. ![]() For instance, have you ever wondered where the term “Chinese fire drill” comes from? Where did we get this strange idiom to refer to an action - exiting, running around, and re-entering a halted car at a red light - that seemingly has nothing to do with fires or the Chinese?ĭon’t Run Past a Good Deal: Insider tips for getting the best deal on a car There are many idioms in our language that your probably don’t know the origins of - including ones that, if you think about them, bear some peculiar phrasing. three gunshots, loud explosions, and all the teachers are telling us to run.Įvery single source that could have emissions connected to it has to be identified and controlled, even if we have a fire drill and we use diesel to set a small fire we have to calculate the amounts.The Chinese fire drill from the intro on “Happy Days” I was in the history hallway, and as soon as we heard the alarms, everybody just started leaving, following the same procedure as.( a) practice fire drill, and next thing you know, we just hear. I remember grabbing onto my students, running out, crying, they didn't see me because they're small, but my heart was racing. three gunshots, loud explosions, and all the teachers are telling us to run. I was in the history hallway, and as soon as we heard the alarms, everybody just started leaving following the same procedure as.( a) practice fire drill, and next thing you know, we just hear. Fire alarm tests are often done outside normal business hours so as to minimize disruption of building functions in schools, they are often done when students and staff are not around or during the holidays where specialist fire alarm engineers test alarms in the building for repair if needed. In addition to fire drills, most buildings have their fire alarm systems checked on a regular basis to ensure that the system is working. ![]() Generally, the evacuation is timed to ensure that it is fast enough, and problems with the emergency system or evacuation procedures are identified to be remedied. Fire drill procedures may vary depending on the building type, such as hospitals or high rise buildings, where occupants may be relocated within the building as opposed to evacuating the building. In most cases, the building's existing fire alarm system is activated and the building is evacuated by means of the nearest available exit as if an emergency had actually occurred. Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votesĪ fire drill is a method of practicing how a building would be evacuated in the event of a fire or other emergencies. ![]()
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