Flu Manchu
- noun
- Slang
:
Flu Manchu
- He looked like a real Flu Manchu after missing a week of work.
Examples
-
I can't believe how many people are calling in sick; it's like a Flu Manchu epidemic!
-
Whenever flu season comes, she calls herself Flu Manchu to make her coworkers laugh.
-
After a week in bed, he emerged looking like Flu Manchu.
-
The whole class caught the flu, and parents joked it was a Flu Manchu situation.
-
After a week in bed, he emerged looking like Flu Manchu.
-
The whole class caught the flu, and parents joked it was a Flu Manchu situation.
-
Whenever flu season comes, she calls herself Flu Manchu to make her coworkers laugh.
Synonyms
354
1.0
A common contagious illness that causes fever, aches, and coughs
50
3.3
A contagious illness caused by a virus that gives fever, body aches, and cough
5
2.8
A large outbreak of flu that affects many people in one area
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a humorous pun on the proper name 'Fu Manchu' (a cultural reference/moustache stereotype) with 'flu' substituted, so understanding it depends on recognizing that wordplay. A B1 learner who only knows the literal meanings of 'flu' and 'Manchu' would not predict the joking sense (someone made to look ill or a widespread outbreak), making the expression non-compositional and reliant on cultural knowledge.
Etymology
Flu Manchu is a funny play on the name Fu Manchu, where people swap Fu for Flu to paint a strong picture of someone looking pale and very sick. So, people use Flu Manchu to mean 'a person who looks ill from the flu' or 'a widespread flu outbreak'.