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Chinaman's chance

No chance; zero possibility; a high or almost certain risk of death or failure.

Etymology:

  • Originally a reference to the socio-economic prospects of immigrant Chinese labour in the United States in the 19th century, which often involved highly dangerous work on the railroads.
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Submitted on July 07, 2010

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Chinaman's chance

outside chanceoff chancesnowball's chance in hellin with a chancechance would be a fine thingChinaman on one's backblow one's chanceghost of a chancesmart chanceby any chancechance uponlast chanceno chanceslim chance

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    "Chinaman's chance." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/chinamans-chance_11662>.

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