Chinaman on one's back
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
Chinaman on one's back (plural not attested)
- (slang) A drug addiction.
- 2003, David W. Maurer, Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, p. 163,
- The chances are that he will stay with his first love, the needle, and that the habit will lose the glorious drive and tingle that it had at first, and become the chinaman on his back who drives him like a slave to get more money to buy more junk.
- 2003, David W. Maurer, Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, p. 163,
- (slang) Withdrawal symptoms.
Synonyms
- monkey on one's back