Chinese fire drill

Common card · No. 309499

"Chinese fire drill" is a predominantly American slang term for a situation that is chaotic or confusing, possibly due to poor or misunderstood instructions. It may also be known as a Polish fire drill or, increasingly, simply as a fire drill. The phrase has been critiqued owing to its associating "Chinese" as a descriptor with incompetence, chaos or otherwise poor quality. In English speaking nations, 'Chinese fire drill' is also the name of a prank (example) where the passengers of a stopped car must exit their seats and run around the car, until they end up in a new seat of the car while the vehicle is stopped, typically at a stop light. Sometimes the prank becomes a game, where the passengers must complete the swap in the shortest time, or count how many stop lights they can perform the prank at. This prank is usually done by teenagers and young adults.

Read on Wikipedia