Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yellow cab

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English

Syllables: yel-low -cab
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A yellow taxi, particularly officially licensed taxis in New York City and certain other jurisdictions.

American usage

noun

An Asian woman who sleeps with white men, particularly such Japanese women when regarded as a race traitor.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

"Despite its ubiquity in 1990s Japanese culture, one telephone survey of 200 people conducted in the New York area did not find a single individual familiar with the use of the term "yellow cab" in reference to Japanese or Asian women."

Etymology

Originally selected owing to yellow's high visibility and common in horsedrawn form in Paris and London in the 1800s and New York in the 1880s. Now chiefly associated with the yellow automotive taxicabs popularized around New York by the Yellow Taxicab Co. In reference to sexually available Asian women, a calque of Japanese イエローキャブ (ierō kyabu), from English yellow cab and popularized by Shōko Ieda's 1991 novel by that name, from its female characters' supposed "yellow" skin and the notion they provided "rides" to the general public.

Origin

Source language: Japanese

Word Breakdown

Root: イエローキャブ, -

Usage

American usage
Derogatory

Inflected Forms

yellow cabs (plural)

Synonyms

amejo sarong party girl

Questions

What does yellow cab mean?: A yellow taxi, particularly officially licensed taxis in New York City and certain other jurisdictions.
Where does yellow cab come from?: It is traced to Japanese.

How to pronounce yellow cab

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “yellow cab”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “yellow cab”.
Repeat and practice — Say “yellow cab” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.