foreign devil

English

Etymology

Calque of Cantonese 番鬼 (faan1 gwai2, literally “foreign devil”)

Noun

foreign devil (plural foreign devils)

1. (China, archaic, derogatory) A foreigner.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "Alas! I called him 'foreign devil' then. Chang, too, had much to learn." "He is speaking of Lord Macartney."