![Poser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Poser.JPG)
Rice burner is a
pejorative
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
term originally applied to Japanese motorcycles and which later expanded to include Japanese cars or any East Asian-made vehicles.
Variations include rice rocket, referring most often to Japanese superbike
A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...
s, rice machine, rice grinder or simply ricer.
Riced out is an adjective denigrating a badly customized sports compact car, "usually with oversized or ill-matched exterior appointments". Rice boy is a US derogatory term for the driver or builder of an import-car hot rod. The terms may disparage cars or car enthusiasts as imposters or wanna-bes, using cheap modifications to imitate the appearance of high performance.
The term is often defined as offensive or racist stereotyping. In some cases, users of the term assert that it is not offensive or racist, or else treat the term as a humorous, mild insult rather than a racial slur.
Early usage 1917 to 1930s
Examples of "rice burner" used literally, meaning one who burns rice or rice fields, as in stubble burning
Stubble burning is the practice of intentionally setting fire to the straw crop residue, stubble that remains after grains, such as rice and wheat, have been harvested. The technique is still widespread today.
Effects
The burning of stubble ha ...
, date to 1917. In 1935 it appeared in a US newspaper caption in with a racial connotation, disparaging East Asian people.
Korean War early 1950s
Canadian troops in the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
initially referred to the Korean labor and support unit providing their food, water, ammunition and other supplies as "G Company" which was short for the racist slur gook
Gook ( or ) is a derogatory term for people of East and Southeast Asian descent. Its origin is unclear, but it may have originated among U.S. Marines during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) and Korean War. Historically, U.S. military p ...
. They quickly became known instead as "rice burners," due to the Canadians' admiration for their Korean support unit's demonstrated strength and stamina in carrying loads over rough terrain, sometimes in snow and ice. While dehumanizing the Koreans as machines that ran on rice was a form of contempt, it was condescendingly approved by the men serving at the time as an improvement over the word it replaced. Comparably, Alaskan slang for a sled dog is "fish burner," as in a beast of burden that runs on fish.
UK 1960s
"Rice-burner" appeared in the British motorcycling magazine ''The Motor Cycle
''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling (maga ...
'' in 1966 as a generally disparaging term for Japanese motorcycles.
US 1970s
By the 1970s, rice burner was a US English slang term for the Vietnamese people during and after the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. It was used in the US by "Detroit loyalists" to disparage more economical Japanese competitors of the US car industry during the 1970s energy crisis
The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...
. It continued to appear in US publications through the 2002 to as a put-down for Japanese and other Asian cars.
UK 1980s
"The Rice Burner" was a turbocharged
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
Kawasaki Z1000-engined drag-bike, built and raced by North Coventry Kawasaki, a retail motorcycle business in Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, England, specializing in turbocharged conversion kits for street and competition machines procured from Jack O'Malley, of Orient Express, New York.
Poser stereotype
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...
's 2005 "Poser Mobile" parody advertisements created a stereotypical caricature "rice burner" or "boy racer" car as perceived by critics of the import scene
The import scene, also known as the import racing scene or tuner scene, is a subculture of modifying mostly Japanese-import cars, particularly in the United States and Europe.
History
Car modifying has been popular among youths in the US, especi ...
, along with such cars' ethnically stereotypical Asian and Latino drivers, whose appearance and behavior is comically aspirational and "phony", contrasted with African-Americans and whites whose clothing, speech, and cars are racially-coded as more "authentic". The video, online and point-of-purchase display ad campaign, created by the Publicis
Publicis Groupe is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. One of the oldest and largest marketing and communications companies in the world by revenue, it is headquartered in Paris.
After 1945, the little-known Paris ...
agency's Seattle office, was about the "Poser Mobile Posse", including "Big Spenda Lopez", "The Fee Jones", "25 cent Chang" who are weak imitations of both real hip hop performers and a "real" mobile phone provider.
See also
* Ah Beng (Singapore/Malaysia)
*Antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
: sleeper
*Boy racer
Boy racer is a term given to a young person who drives in a fast and aggressive manner; it has become a broader term (often pejorative) for participants in modern custom car culture who tune and modify cars with street racing-style afterma ...
(UK term)
*Car tuning
Car tuning is the modification of a car to optimise it for a different set of performance requirements from those it was originally designed to meet. Most commonly this is higher engine performance and dynamic handling characteristics but cars ...
*Hoon
A hoon is an Australian term describing a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers.
Hoon activities (or hooning) can include speeding, burnouts, dough ...
*Import scene
The import scene, also known as the import racing scene or tuner scene, is a subculture of modifying mostly Japanese-import cars, particularly in the United States and Europe.
History
Car modifying has been popular among youths in the US, especi ...
*Street racing
Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is ...
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice Burner
Automotive terminology
DIY culture
Metaphors referring to food and drink
Modified vehicles
Pejorative terms related to technology