Rice burner

{{Short description|Pejorative term for a car with excessive cosmetic additions}} {{redirect-distinguish|Rice grinder|Ricing (cooking)}} {{Redirect|Rice machine|the machine for cooking rice|Rice cooker}} {{redirect|Riceboy|the webcomic|Evan Dahm}} [[File:Poser.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|T-Mobile's 1985 Corolla Sport GT-S coupé "Poser Mobile" advertisements exploited ethnic stereotypes and stereotypes of customized East Asian cars as failed imitations of "authentic" car culture.<ref name="Tanz 2011"/>]]

'''Rice burner''' is a pejorative term originally applied to Japanese motorcycles and which later expanded to include Japanese cars or any East Asian-made vehicles.<ref name="The Motor Cycle"/><ref name=Lead/><ref name="Breitenstein 2004"/><ref name="Mustang Monthly 2002"/> Variations include '''rice rocket''', referring most often to Japanese superbikes, '''rice machine''', '''rice grinder''' or simply '''ricer'''.<ref name=Lead/><ref name="Matebese 2009"/><ref name="Palladino 2009"/>

'''Riced out''' is an adjective denigrating a badly customized sports car, "usually with oversized or ill-matched exterior appointments".<ref name="Palmisano 2010"/> '''Rice boy''' is a US derogatory term for the driver or builder of an import-car hot rod.<ref name="Breitenstein 2004"/> 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.<ref name="Green 2005"/><ref name="Herbst 1997"/> In some cases, users of the term assert that it is not offensive or racist,<ref name="Pierson 1998"/><ref name="Watson 2002"/> or else treat the term as a humorous, mild insult rather than a racial slur.<ref name="Ubinas 1999"/><ref name="NYT 2004"/><ref name="Heald 2003"/>

==Early usage 1917 to 1930s== Examples of "rice burner" used literally, meaning one who burns rice or rice fields, as in stubble burning, date to 1917.<ref name="OED"/> In 1935 it appeared in a US newspaper caption with a racial connotation, disparaging East Asian people.<ref name="OED"/>

==Korean War early 1950s== Canadian troops in the Korean War initially referred to the Korean labor and support unit providing their food, water, ammunition and other supplies as "G Company" which was code for the racist slur gook.<ref name="Watson 2002"/><ref name="OED"/> 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 {{convert|55|lb|kg|abbr=on}} loads over rough terrain, sometimes in snow and ice.<ref name="Watson 2002"/> 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.<ref name="Watson 2002"/> Comparably, Alaskan slang for a sled dog is "fish burner," as in a beast of burden that runs on fish.<ref name="Blevins 2001"/><ref name="Gumbel 2003"/>

==UK 1960s== "Rice-burner" appeared in the British motorcycling magazine ''The Motor Cycle'' in 1966 as a generally disparaging term for Japanese motorcycles.<ref name="The Motor Cycle"/>

==US 1970s== By the 1970s, rice burner was a US English slang term for the Vietnamese people during and after the Vietnam War.<ref name="OED"/> 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.<ref name="Krebs 2001"/>

==UK 1980s== "The Rice Burner" was a turbocharged Kawasaki Z1000-engined drag-bike, built and raced by North Coventry Kawasaki, a retail motorcycle business in Coventry, England, specializing in turbocharged conversion kits for street and competition machines procured from Jack O'Malley, of Orient Express, New York.<ref name="MCN"/>

==Poser stereotype== 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, along with such cars' drivers, whose appearance and behavior is comically aspirational and "phony", contrasted with people whose clothing, speech, and cars are more "authentic".<ref name="Tanz 2011"/><ref name="Solman 2005"/> The video, online and point-of-purchase display ad campaign, created by the Publicis 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.<ref name="Light 2005"/>

==See also== *Ah Beng (Singapore/Malaysia) *Antonym: sleeper *Boy racer (UK term) *Car tuning *Hoon *Import scene *Street racing

==Notes== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Lead>Dictionaries and glossaries: * {{Citation |title=Roget's super thesaurus |first=Marc |last=McCutcheon |edition=3rd |publisher=Writer's Digest Books |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-58297-254-1 |page=378}} * {{Citation |title=The concise new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English |first1=Tom |last1=Dalzell |first2=Terry |last2=Victor |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-21259-5 |page=538 }} * {{Citation |editor1-last=McKean |editor1-first=Erin |editor1-link= Erin McKean |title=The Oxford Essential Dictionary of New Words |publisher=Berkeley |year=2003 |isbn=0-425-19097-8 |page=237 }} * {{Citation |last=Dickson |first=Paul |year=2006 |title=Slang; The topical dictionary of Americanisms |publisher=Walker & Company |isbn=0-8027-1531-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/slang00paul/page/41 41] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/slang00paul/page/41 }} * {{Citation |title=Sweet Machines & Bike Night Scenes |first= Donna |last= Madden |publisher= Lulu.com |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-1-4116-9778-2 |page= 26 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1kt85Q48jwwC&pg=PA25 }}</ref>

<ref name="Palmisano 2010">{{Citation |title= Toyota enthusiast embraces tuner culture |newspaper= The Washington Examiner |location= Washington, D.C. |date= 4 March 2010 | first = Trey |last= Palmisano |format=HighBeam |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-21358011.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518204903/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-21358011.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 May 2013 |access-date= 22 September 2012 }}</ref>

<ref name="OED">{{Cite OED|Rice burner}}</ref>

<ref name="Watson 2002">{{Citation |title=Far Eastern tour: the Canadian infantry in Korea, 1950-1953 |first=Brent Byron |last= Watson |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |year=2002 |isbn= 978-0-7735-2372-2 |chapter=Rice Burners and KATCOMs |pages=65–66 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IDlqGSyvdkC&pg=PA64 }}</ref>

<ref name="The Motor Cycle"> * ''Motor Cycle'' 17 November 1966 pp.674–675 ''You Say This. "Won't last. ...Many a rice burner will be clapped out within four or five years, but the Tiger 90 would last about 12 years. Paul Ayres, Woking, Surrey''". Accessed 4 May 2015 * ''Motor Cycle'' 1 December 1966 pp.740–742 ''You Say This. "Challenge on. I was interested to see the correspondence regarding the Triumph T90 and the Suzuki Super Six and the challenge issued...Having sold and serviced many Triumphs and Suzukis, I feel qualified to act without bias. Had Paul Ayres (17 November) the experience of both makes, such as comes the way of a dealer with 16 years in the trade, he would not refer to the finest two-fifty motorcycle yet manufactured as a rice burner. K.R. Harris, Aitchanbee Motor Cycles, Harrow Weald, Middlesex''." Accessed 4 May 2015 * ''Motor Cycle'' 22 December 1966 pp.834–835 ''You Say This. "Proof. We do not consider the Suzuki Super Six to be a rice-burner. Indeed, after it has drunk its petrol, it will have little appetite for anything else. A two-fifty which needs a gallon of petrol every 47 miles to travel at 60 mph must be the ultimate in low efficiency. P.J. Worsnop, P. Woollven, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham''". Accessed 16 June 2015 </ref>

<ref name="MCN"> * ''Motorcycle News'' 5 May 1982, p.39 "Follow the Rice Burner. Get your own at NCK. GPz550H1 Turbo built and developed for the road by NCK Performance Dept. POA". Accessed 13 January 2020 * ''Motorcycle News'' 3 November 1982, p.32 The Mighty Middleweight. Boost your power — and ego — with a turbo. "Not wanting to be left out of the turbo cult, a Kawasaki dealer in Coverntry is importing kits from America and offering Big K's GP550 with the blower bolted on and ready to go...". Accessed 13 January 2020 </ref>

<ref name="Tanz 2011">{{Citation |title=Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America |first=Jason |last=Tanz |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |year=2011 |isbn=978-1608196531 |pages=179–180 }}</ref>

<ref name="Ubinas 1999">{{Citation |title=Motorcyclists Reclaim Youth With Hog-Wild Week In Florida; [7 Hartford North Final Edition] |first=Helen |last=Ubinas |newspaper=The Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, Connecticut |date=14 March 1999 | page=A.1 |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1999-03-14-9903140068-story.html }}</ref>

<ref name="Breitenstein 2004">{{Citation |title=Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary |first1= Jeff |last1=Breitenstein |first2=Troy |last2= Paiva |publisher=MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company |year= 2004 |isbn= 978-0-7603-1823-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtKWmLLiuTgC&pg=PA170 |page=170 }}</ref>

<ref name="Mustang Monthly 2002">{{Citation |title=You might be a rice rocket jockey if. (Pony Tales). |periodical=Mustang Monthly |volume= 25 |issue=5 |date = May 2002 |page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="NYT 2004">{{Citation |title=Spinning 'Rice Burners' Into Gold |newspaper=The New York Times |location= New York, N.Y. |date=26 July 2004 |page= D.10 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/26/automobiles/spinning-rice-burners-into-gold.html |access-date=2011-05-09 }}</ref>

<ref name="Heald 2003">{{Citation |title=Bike Speak; The Collected Lingo Of The Road Warrior |first=Bill |last=Heald |newspaper=The Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, Connecticut |date=15 June 2003 |page=14 }}</ref>

<ref name="Matebese 2009">{{Citation |title=Driving Impression. Putting Godzilla through its paces |first=Lerato |last= Matebese |magazine=Business Day |location=Johannesburg, South Africa |date=19 November 2009 }}</ref>

<ref name="Palladino 2009">{{Citation|title=Formula Racing |first=D. J. |last=Palladino |newspaper=Santa Barbara Independent |location= Santa Barbara, California |date=9–16 April 2009 |volume=23 |issue=169 |page=119 }}</ref>

<ref name="Green 2005">{{Citation |title=Cassell's Dictionary of Slang |author-link= Jonathon Green |first=Jonathon |last=Green |edition=2nd |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company |year=2005 |isbn= 978-0-304-36636-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&pg=PA1189 |page=1189 }}</ref>

<ref name="Herbst 1997">{{Citation |title=The color of words: an encyclopedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States |first=Philip |last=Herbst |publisher=Intercultural Press |year=1997 |isbn= 978-1-877864-97-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiZQH5gHuggC&pg=PA199 |page=199 }}</ref>

<ref name="Pierson 1998">{{Citation |title=The Perfect Vehicle: What Is It About Motorcycles |year=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gX-yd9KpqdQC&q=rice |page=166 |isbn=0-393-31809-5 |last=Pierson |first=Melissa Holbrook |author-link=Melissa Holbrook Pierson}}</ref>

<ref name="Blevins 2001">{{Citation |title=Dictionary of the American West: over 5,000 terms and expressions from Aarigaa! to Zopilote |first=Winfred |last=Blevins |edition=2nd |publisher=Sasquatch Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-57061-304-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000blev_i9b1 }}</ref>

<ref name="Gumbel 2003">{{Citation |title= Wings of desire; Harley-Davidson, the world's best-known two-wheeled brand, is 100 years old, and celebrating noisily. But is it still the epitome of youthful rebellion - or just a midlife-crisis plaything for the wealthy? |first= Andrew |last= Gumbel |newspaper= The Independent |location= London, UK |date= 27 August 2003 |page= 2.3 |url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wings-of-desire-537162.html |access-date=2011-05-09 }}</ref>

<ref name="Krebs 2001">{{Citation |title= Aging With Boomers, The Accord Turns 25 |first= Michelle |last= Krebs |date= 19 October 2001|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/19/automobiles/aging-with-boomers-the-accord-turns-25.html |access-date= 2011-05-09 |newspaper=The New York Times |page= F1}}</ref>

<ref name="Solman 2005">{{Citation |last=Solman |first=Gregory |title=Publicis' Teen Gang Mugs for T-Mobile |magazine=Adweek {{subscription required|via=Gale General OneFile}} |date=March 31, 2005 }}</ref>

<ref name="Light 2005">{{Citation |magazine=Hyphen |title=The "T" in "T-Mobile is for WTF? |first=Claire |last=Light |date=June 27, 2005 |url=https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2005/6/27/t-t-mobile-wtf |access-date=1 January 2021 |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616202038/https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2005/6/27/t-t-mobile-wtf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

}}

==References== {{Refbegin|30em}} *{{Citation |pages=80–106 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lUr4iMYesJAC&pg=PA80 |format= Google Books | title= Fast Cars, Cool Rides: The Accelerating World of Youth and Their Cars |first= Amy L. |last= Best |year = 2006| publisher=NYU Press |isbn= 9780814799314 |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |title= Book Review: 'Big Sid's Vincati': Building a Special Motorcycle Brought Father and Son Together |date= 2 June 2010 |first= David M. |last= Kinchen |newspaper= Huntington News.net |location= Huntington, West Virginia |url= http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/columns/100602-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html |quote= He's a master tuner of Vincents, a defunct and legendary British motorcycle brand – bikes that were the fastest production machines before the era of the Hayabusa and other 'rice burner' 'crotch rockets.' |access-date= 22 September 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130221150736/http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/columns/100602-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html |archive-date= 21 February 2013 |df= dmy-all }} * {{Citation |title= Vintage year for a show |newspaper= Liverpool Echo |location= Liverpool, England |date= 21 May 2004 |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-117013263.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518200733/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-117013263.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 May 2013 |format= HighBeam |quote= . Classic owners from all three areas are invited and you don't have to own a rice burner to compete; there are prizes for best British and European as well as best in show and runners up. |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |title= The Last Ride.(Movie Review) |newspaper= Daily Variety |date=2 June 2004 |last= Lowry |first= Brian |format= HighBeam |url= http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118686918.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130518201143/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118686918.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 18 May 2013 |quote= If nothing else, the cross-generational bonding as they attempt to unravel what happened decades ago provides fertile ground for GTO-friendly dialogue: 'Maybe along the way, you might learn something about real cars,' Ronnie grumbles at one point, referring to Matt's import as a 'rice-burner.' |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |title= The right track; Teens' spirits and their engines get a rush at Spokane Raceway Park |newspaper= The Spokesman-Review |date= 15 May 2003 |first= Tom |last= Lutey |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=20030515&id=M7wzAAAAIBAJ&pg=2449,4219429 |quote= Moline races a 'rice burner,' the label applied to the tiny import cars mostly from Japan. His 1992, turbo-charged AMC Eagle Talon was manufactured by Mitsubishi. |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |title= Motor Age Garage: Hiding in Plain Sight. Old cars still need fixing, and with the right outlook it can be downright fun |date= 1 January 2009 |first= Richard |last= McCuistian |magazine= Motor Age |url= http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/spectroscopy/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=573339&sk=&date=&%0A%09%09%09&pageID=2 |access-date= 22 September 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130530103433/http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/spectroscopy/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=573339&sk=&date=&%0A%09%09%09&pageID=2 |archive-date= 30 May 2013 |df= dmy-all }} * {{Citation |title= From 'rice burner' to golden oldie Early Japanese cars shunned in U.S. become collectors' items |newspaper= International Herald Tribune |date=27 July 2004 |last= Matras |first= John |format= HighBeam |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-96847205.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518205420/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-96847205.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 May 2013 |quote= Looking back at the first Datsun trucks and Toyota sedans to arrive in the United States in the late 1950s, it is easy to see why purists bristled at any suggestion that these ungainly Japanese 'rice burners' might be collectible some day. |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |title= Schools; family; American cars (letters to the editor) |quote= Editor: This letter is directed at all those people who just had to buy a Japanese car: Laid off? Hungry? Eat your rice burner! |url= http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/201007130645?page=2 |newspaper= The Charleston Gazette |first= John Mark |last= Miller |date= 13 July 2010 |access-date= 22 September 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130524172545/http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/201007130645?page=2 |archive-date= 24 May 2013 |df= dmy-all }} * {{Citation |title= Rice rocket; Inside the import car phenom |first= Joyce |last= Nishioka |url= http://asianweek.com/2001_06_22/feature.html |newspaper= AsianWeek |date= 27 June 2001 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120928053315/http://www.asianweek.com/2001_06_22/feature.html |archive-date= 28 September 2012 |df= dmy-all }} * {{Citation |title= Diary of a Fat Man |first= Scott |last= Raab |magazine= Esquire |url= http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0699-JUN_FATMAN#ixzz27EJ1ly7T |date= 1 June 1999 |access-date= 22 September 2012 }} * {{Citation |last=Reavis |first= Dick |magazine=Texas Monthly |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Mi4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA106 |title= You Are What You Ride; Why you never meet the nicest people on a Harley |date= May 1979 |page= 106 }} {{Refend}}

==External links== {{Wiktionary|rice burner|rice rocket}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice Burner}} Category:Automotive terminology Category:DIY culture Category:Metaphors referring to food and drink Category:Modified vehicles Category:Pejorative terms related to technology