Chinese virus

Noun

Chinese virus (countable and uncountable, plural Chinese viruses)

1. (colloquial, offensive, sometimes) Synonym of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
   • Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said on Twitter that “I don’t understand why China gets upset bc we refer to the virus that originated there the ‘Chinese virus’ Spain never got upset when we referred to the Spanish flu in 1918&1919.”2020 March 13, Katie Rogers et al., “Trump Defends Using ‘Chinese Virus’ Label, Ignoring Growing Criticism”, in New York Times
   • First it was the Chinese virus, then we had the murder hornets, then we had to close the embassy in Houston because of espionage … Now we’ve got all these mystery seeds coming in in the mail.2021 July 15, Chris Heath, quoting Sid Miller, “The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds”, in The Atlantic

   Synonyms:

   SARS-CoV-2

2. (colloquial, offensive, sometimes) Synonym of coronavirus, the disease COVID-19.
   • There were supposed to be armies. Grand armies of contact tracers crisscrossing every county in the country on the hunt for the Chinese virus.2020 June 16, David Marcus, “Contact Tracing Is A Fiasco Rejected By Most Americans”, in The Federalist
   • Stocks mostly recover on hope for handling of Chinese virus.2020 January 22, Associated Press, headline

   Synonyms:

   coronavirus

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Chinese, virus. A pathogen or malware originating, identified, or causing outbreaks in China.
   • The Chinese virus seems to be more closely related to the marine type of Mexican virus than to the European virus.1938, The Chinese Medical Journal, volume 53, page 86
   • The Chinese virus has completely penetrated the fabric of the Hosaka.1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer, page 231