chee-chee, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

chee-chee n.

also chi-chi

[South Indian excl. chi!, fie! or nonsense! or as onomat. representation of the accent. Y&B note, however: ‘there are many well-educated East Indians who are quite free from this mincing accent.’ Ironically, the accent appears to have been that expressly taught at the convents and Christian Brothers’ schools set up in the colonial era to educate the children of such unions. Note Du. lip-lap, the equivalent term for Dutch-Javans]

1. a derog. term for a half-caste or Eurasian (the child of an English father and Indian mother); also attrib.

1816		‘Quiz’ Grand Master [n.p.] v. note, Chee chee is the general designation the half-cast ladies receive in India [OED].
1841		Asiatic Jrnl May-Aug. 47: I‘ shall be ver happie; I am not engaged,’ said Miss Rosa, in a singular variety of the Anglo-Saxon tongue called the Cheechee language (Hindustanee idiom Englished), then new to me — a dialect which constitutes a distinguishing mark of those born and bred in India.
1850		R.J. Cleveland Narrative of Advetures 128: ‘No,’ was the reply, ‘ he looks like a Cheechee;’ and in truth I had become so burnt by long and great exposure, that it was not surprising I should be taken for a native of India.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict. [n.p.] Chee-chee this word is used in a rather offensive manner to denote Eurasians, or children by an English father and native mother. It takes its origin in a very common expression of these half-caste females, ‘CHEE-CHEE,’ equivalent to our Oh, fie! ? Nonsense! ? For shame! ? Anglo-Indian.
1886		Yule & Burnell Hobson-Jobson (1996) 186/2: cheechee, adj. A disparaging term applied to half-castes or Eurasians [...] and also to their manner of speech.
1886		Sporting Times 27 Feb. 5/5: ‘When does the next [train] go?’ inquired Mr Chaplin of the half-caste station-master [...] The chee-chee’s hair stood on end.
1958		C. Lee diary 19 Nov. in Eight Bells & Top Masts (2001) 183: Now I know about Anglo-Indians. Ainslie calls them ‘chee-chees.’ [...] They’re what Dad calls half-castes. Indian and British.

2. (W.I.) in ext. use of sense 1, a patois [note che-che n. (2)].

1902

Sussex Agric. Exp. 16 May 3/3: The negro [...] seemed to have caught much of ther vivacity of manner and speech of his French masters. Here the chee-chee or patois was ‘nigger-French’.