chinese home run
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.84 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A home run hit to the minimum distance possible, usually just over the outfield fence closest to home plate.
American usage; Dated; Derogatory; Slang
Example Sentences
- "Chinese home run: 1. A derogatory term for a home run hit over the portion of the outfield fence closest to home plate, often one that lands just inside (or hits) the foul pole in a ballpark with small dimensions."
- "Hal was too small to play, but he sat far out in foul territory, sucking on his blueberry Popsicle and chasing what the big kids called "Chinese home runs." (Cited at Dickson, above. He further quotes correspondence from King that indicates that his understanding of this term was that it applied to a foul ball over the backstop)"
Etymology
Either from the supposed tendency of early 20th-century Chinese immigrants to the United States to perform minimally acceptable work for minimal compensation, or a possible corruption of Chaney's home run from such a hit by a batter with the same name that ended a game when the ball could not be found.
Usage
- American usage
- Dated
- Derogatory
- Slang