chi chi man
- noun
- Slur
:
[OFENSIVO] maricón
- He was unfairly labeled a chi chi man because of his expressive fashion sense.
Examples
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Some people use chi chi man as a derogatory term in Caribbean communities.
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The song lyrics featured the controversial phrase chi chi man, sparking protests.
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Don't be such a chi chi man!
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I can't stand that chi chi man at the party.
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He was unfairly labeled a chi chi man because of his expressive fashion sense.
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Some people use chi chi man as a derogatory term in Caribbean communities.
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I can't stand that chi chi man at the party.
Surface Forms
Morphology
chi + chi + man
The element 'chi' is not a recognized English lexical item for most learners and is repeated as a slang/reduplicated form, so its contribution to the phrase's meaning is not derivable from known dictionary senses; knowing 'man' (adult male) only signals gender, not flamboyance or effeminacy. The overall sense is slangy and culture-specific (often Jamaican/Caribbean or dialectal) and thus idiomatic rather than compositional, making it unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituents.
Etymology
The noun chi chi man may come from Caribbean use of chi chi, a word meaning 'fancy' or 'showy'. People used chi chi man for a man who dressed or acted in that showy way, so the phrase is often used as an 'insult' for a man seen as too feminine.
