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 Not a Chinaman's Chance (1894), Charles Marion Russell | |
| Meaning | nonexistent or highly unlikely probability of success |
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Chinaman's chance is an American idiom which means that a person has little or no chance at success, synonymous with similar idioms of improbability such as a snowball's chance in hell or when pigs fly. Although the origin of the phrase is unclear, it may refer to the historical misfortunes which were suffered by Chinese-American immigrants. The expression is controversial due to its use of the term "Chinaman".