Manchurian candidate
noun · first attested 1970
The brainwashing happens in Manchuria because that is where the novel's Chinese and Soviet handlers could plausibly meet.
A person, especially a politician, who is controlled by a hostile foreign power, possibly without knowing it.
Manchuria·People's Republic of China
45.0000°N 125.0000°E · Q81126
Record
- Relationship
- From the people of the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1970
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Manchuria
- In English
Manchurian candidate
Richard Condon's 1959 novel has an American platoon captured in Korea and taken across the border into Manchuria, where a soldier is conditioned to kill on command. The 1962 film adaptation dropped out of circulation for two decades, which did its reputation no harm. The phrase broke loose from the story around 1970 and is now applied to any politician suspected of serving another country.