Why is china-man an offensive term?

Question

I dont get it, dutchman, irishman, they all seem fine, but some people get offended with china-man, . Why would you be offended by that unless you are not proud of your home country and dont want to be reminded where you came from?

Answer 1

i dont find it offensive, im a proud chinese, call me chinaman i dont care

Answer 2

First, you might say Frenchman, but you don´t say "Germanman". You say Irishman, but you don´t use "Italianman" as a set term. You say "Dutchman", but you wouldn´t say "Russianman".

Why not? Because those are not the official, or let´s say: commonly used terms.

"Chinaman" is offensive because it indicates that you neither know nor care to know nor bother to use the official term, "a Chinese" or "a Chinese man". You display ignorance and, if you want, arrogance.  

It has nothing to do with being proud of your homecountry, "Americaman" (or wherever you´re from) - it´s simply not the name for the thing.

Answer 3

Merriam-Webster says : "often offensive : a native of China : 'chinese' "

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar...

The New Oxford Dictionary : "Chinaman noun (pl. -men) 1 chiefly archaic: or derogatory: a native of China."

Random House Unabridged Dictionary :

"Usually Offensive. a Chinese or a person of Chinese descent."

" 'a Chinaman's chance', Usually Offensive. the slightest chance: He hasn't a Chinaman's chance of getting that job."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language : "n. Offensive 'A Chinese man'."

WordNet®, Princeton University : "(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Chinese descent [synonym : "c***k"]"



http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/c...