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It's a curious city.

Where WBEZ answers your questions about Chicago, the region, and its people.

Hi, I'm WBEZ reporter Monica Eng, and I've worked in Chicago journalism for a few decades now.

Early in my newspaper career, I got into a pickle with a powerful editor.

So I turned to a veteran reporter pal for advice.

Well, first off, he says, who's your Chinaman?

My what? That's the first time I heard this piece of Chicago slang, and it struck me as weird, archaic, maybe even racist. But soon I learned

it meant your sponsor, your protector in the newsroom, sometimes the guy who got to your job.

But the term goes well beyond journalism around here.

It's used by cops, politicos, and other folks with city jobs.

That's where questioner Johnny McGuire first heard it.

I had a couple friends who used to work for the city,

and they had heard the term tossed around,

but had no idea where the appropriation came from. Specifically, why was the term Chinaman used and not something more sort of appropriate

to the city's ethnic history like Irishmen?

Thanks, Johnny. You've handed us a real mystery. I mean, I looked in history books and even 150 years of Chicago Tribunes and found bupkis.

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