# Chinese fire drill

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A prank performed while stopped in a car at a red light, and where each passenger, including the driver, shouts "Chinese fire drill", exits the vehicle, runs at least once around it, then re-enters, each taking a different seat.
2. A silly, pointless exercise.

## Etymology
Perhaps from the WWI era, from the former Western use of Chinese as an ethnic and racial slur; now used only as a festive exclamation.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chinese-fire-drill