Chinese (Mandarin) and the N-Word

jcdenton

jcdenton

250+ Posts
So I was at Macy's today in the shoe section, and my Mom comes up and says in Chinese (Mandarin) "So are you going to buy that pair of shoes you were looking at earlier"? Well it just so happens that the word in Mandarin which is the equivalent of the word "that" (when referring to a specific item) is pronounced "nigga". And it just so happens that there were three black people in the immediate vicininty (two employees and one customer). And it just so happens (or not) that everyone in the vicinity got really quiet all of a sudden after my Mom said it.

Well that's basically the end of the story, but I expressed to my Mom afterwards that she should try to avoid saying "nigga" in such situations, and she agreed that she would try.

So I guess I was wondering if anyone else had ever noticed this, or heard of it being an issue? I would imagine that anyone who is aware of the fact that a person is speaking Chinese when that person says "nigga" would not associate it with the English word, but that may or may not necessarily be the case. And if they aren't really listening and don't even know the language being spoken is Chinese and just hear the word "nigga", obviously that would suck.

BTW--as if this weren't enough of an unfortunate coincidence, the Chinese words for "give that" (for example, to give a particular type of item as a gift to someone) is even worse: "gay nigga".
 
haha. yeah, my mom says that all the time. i asked her one time what it meant (sad i know) and she didn't understand what word i was asking about. it does sound very similar to the N word, just without the "r" sound at the end.
 
My wife's mother is from China. When I first heard her speaking Chinese, that's what I thought she was saying. For them, it's a Chinese word. To us it sounds like something else. If people get offended, they need to get over it.
 
"na," also pronounced "nay" means "that." "ge" is a measure word for just about any common item in casual conversation. Therefore "nay ge" is uttered about 4.5 trillion times a day in China. RACE WAR! Seriously though, it would suck if someone got hurt over a misunderstanding like this. I hope Americans will try to learn a little bit about Chinese before they get super offended.
 
Be glad you don't know any Ethiopian Kings.

Spelling bee.

Turn your volume up, the audio is low. The judges had to know this was going to be awkward. I like how she kept asking him to say the word.
 
Too great.

'What the **** did you just say?'

Once upon a time someone on a high school faculty or something got fired for saying 'niggardly' in a meeting. Too great and very sad all at the same time.

It's a dangerous, multi-cultural world.
 
that's pretty funny because some students at UT from Houston have made money selling tshirts making fun of that. It has Na Ge "that one" spelled in Chinese and the last part of the phrase to look like it's spelled in chinese but it says plz. So the Tshirt says "Na Ge Plz"
 
I've heard my coworker say that when on the phone speaking Chinese. Now I'm glad to know that she's not a racist.
 
I like Puddle/Cruiser and the Dude.

hookem.gif
 
One of my best friends is Chinese, and when we first met (freshman year in college), I walked in on him speaking Mandarin to his parents.

Every few sentences he would say, "...nigga, nigga, nigga..."

It was jarring at first, so I just asked him what it meant (I knew it didn't mean the "n-word"). He told me what it means, and now I just kinda giggle when I hear him say it.
 
wow jcdenton you're chinese? never knew.

i have the white people can't read this tshirt. my wife bought it for me a few years ago when we were still in school. but i've worn it like twice ever.
 
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