Where did "shanghai-ed" come from?

[Pengyou]

There is now a verb in the English language - shanghaied - which roughly means to kidnap someone and sell them into work-bondage. I used to think this came from the name of the city but a few months ago someone told that it comes from a Chinese phrase...but I cannot remember what it is. Any help here?

[tooironic]

Have you read the Wikipedia article? It's quite comprehensive, though it doesn't mention any kind of Chinese phrase, only that it originates from the city's name.

[liuzhou]

There is now a verb in the English language - shanghaied

The verb has been part of the English languages for a very long time. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first recorded usage as 1871.

1.1 trans. a.1.a Naut. slang (orig. U.S.). To drug or otherwise render insensible, and ship on board a vessel wanting hands.

1871 N.Y. Tribune 1 Mar. (Schele de Vere Americanisms, p. 347), And before that time they would have been drugged, shanghaied, and taken away from all means of making complaint.

It comes from the name of the city, where those shanghaied often ended up.

[Pengyou]

thanks!