> Various reasons have been suggested for naming the game after the Chinese, but there is no concrete explanation.[5] One suggested reason is a widespread English fascination with Chinese culture in the 18th and 19th centuries - including that now known as Orientalism. Another proposed theory is that English people of the 19th century believed that Chinese people spoke in a way that was deliberately unintelligible, thus in their minds associating the Chinese language with confusion and incomprehensibility. An additional explanation is the commonplace observation that when two people, such as English and Chinese speakers, try to communicate with each other in their own language, the result is often confusion, and equally often amusing to both parties. A further theory is that the game stems from the supposed confused messages created when a message was passed verbally from tower to tower along the Great Wall of China.[5]
Out of curiosity, do you cringe when you hear the phrase "it's Greek to me"?