el mango ([info]soyelmango) wrote in [info]linguaphiles,
@ 2006-02-07 23:38:00
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I've thought for some years now that it had to happen one day, and this morning, on the bus, it happened: when languages collide!

A young chinese couple are heading up the aisle, between them is a young black guy. The girl is looking for a seat, and the boyfriend directs her repeatedly to a pair of seats. Except that in mandarin chinese, "this one" [ie: these seats here] is pronounced "ni gerr". So the black guy, hearing what sounded like "nigger... nigger... NIGGER" from behind him is less than pleased and a tussle kicks off: angry black guy -versus- confused and increasingly angry chinese guy. The chinese guy invites the black guy to get off at the next stop, and he agrees, but fortunately, other passengers step in to calm them down.

Just thought I'd share that with you: that such a common phrase in Chinese has an unfortunate coincidence when used elsewhere.

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[info]juliechama
2006-02-07 11:45 pm UTC (link)
D:

i've never had that problem when i say "this one"... but i say it more like ne not ni.. lol i guess if you really slur it , it'll sound like that

maybe he should've said "those" or "those seats over there" lol

unlucky guy =/

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[info]bekkle
2006-02-08 12:01 am UTC (link)
wait. you didn't explain??

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[info]bekkle
2006-02-08 12:04 am UTC (link)
oh and wait, let me do it before anyone else does:

DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO USE THE N-WORD?? YOU'RE RACIST! RACIST! RACIST!

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[info]estonianpunkcat
2006-02-08 12:45 am UTC (link)
Lol. It's gotten to the point where, whenever something like this comes up, complaints like that pop up automatically in a small voice in the back of my mind. You know, in anticipation of them being made.

Back to the original subject, though, yeah, poor guy. I guess brushing up on other languages' swear words really does have more than one use.

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[info]koffie_addict
2006-02-08 01:19 am UTC (link)
that was the first thing i was thinking..

strangely enough, you are always around to capslock whenever that word is mentioned

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[info]bekkle
2006-02-08 01:22 am UTC (link)
ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!?!?

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[info]bekkle
2006-02-08 01:22 am UTC (link)
MY... POLITICAL ACCURACY!?!?

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[info]koffie_addict
2006-02-08 01:23 am UTC (link)
obviously

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[info]bekkle
2006-02-08 01:26 am UTC (link)
GOD all you Dutchinese are the SAME.

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[info]elfwreck
2006-02-08 04:17 am UTC (link)
pssst.... it's not called "politically correct" anymore. Now, you have to be "socially aware."

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[info]tytal
2006-02-08 05:04 am UTC (link)
Well that's just crap. Just when I decided to attempt ''political correctness'' now I have to learn how to be ''socially aware?'' Bah! Screw it.

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[info]gogalucky
2006-02-08 06:34 am UTC (link)
that. is totally cute. :D

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[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:44 pm UTC (link)
hahah. Arse to all that.

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[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:42 pm UTC (link)
I used the bla** word too! Go me.

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[info]svz_insanity
2006-02-08 12:03 am UTC (link)
I'm suddenly reminded of Rush Hour. :D I never had that problem before though. Hmm... I feel sorry for that guy. What rotten luck.

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[info]aerlinnel
2006-02-08 12:13 am UTC (link)
What character would that be? I'd've said 这个.

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[info]disastrouscode
2006-02-08 12:18 am UTC (link)
"那個"

the first character is usually pronounced "na" (with different tones for different purposes), but some people pronounce it "nei", thus saying "nei ge...nei ge..."

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[info]aerlinnel
2006-02-08 12:43 am UTC (link)
Ohh, I see now. I don't think I'd heard that pronunciation of it before.

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[info]lakehmm
2006-02-08 12:51 am UTC (link)
Yeah, that technically means "this one" and it's a common casual conversation filler like English "like" or "you know".

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[info]taschenrechner
2006-02-08 05:44 am UTC (link)
Doesn't "这个" mean "this one", while "那个" means "that one"?

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[info]lakehmm
2006-02-09 12:11 am UTC (link)
Yeah sorry. The poster said "this one" and I meant to correct that to "that one". So...yes. It means "that one".

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[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:45 pm UTC (link)
Oh dear... as a conversation filler, it just increases the probabilities of this kind of thing happening again!

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[info]fenoxielo524
2006-02-08 12:42 am UTC (link)
This reminds me of those those things where people will come up with naughty sounding English "transliterations" of foreign songs.

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Or just sentences.
[info]estonianpunkcat
2006-02-08 12:51 am UTC (link)
At the Estonian scout/guide camp last summer, the oldest guys played on dirty-sounding Estonian all week. Stuff like "KAKSTEIST KUUD!" which very innocently means simply "twelve months", but to the American ear sounds an awful lot like "cocks taste good"...

Oh, they were full of them. What an almost unbearably hilarious week!

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Re: Or just sentences.
[info]tytal
2006-02-08 02:29 am UTC (link)
I LOL'd. Well done.

To the OP, if you were there, why didn't you try to defuse the situation? If you heard this second-hand, no wonder you laughed. I did, too.

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Re: Or just sentences.
[info]zubird
2006-02-08 06:23 am UTC (link)
wow, that's awesome.

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Re: Or just sentences.
[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:46 pm UTC (link)
Wahahahha... that's mad!

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[info]ceilingfolk
2006-02-08 12:46 am UTC (link)
the first time my chinese teacher said it, i was like "...wait WHAT?" and then i understood. i always wondered what would happen if it was said in front of a black person, haha. it's really interesting.

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[info]darknepenthe
2006-02-08 01:23 am UTC (link)
Okay. I know this was asked above already, but I feel the need to ask too, since it seems a pertinent question.
So there you are, sitting on the bus, and you're witnessing this incident first-hand. You, with your knowledge of both Mandarin Chinese and English, understand perfectly where the miscommunication lies. You see the potential violence about to erupt. And you just sit there quietly, instead of offering up your knowledge to maybe clear up the unfortunate misunderstanding? I mean, if the people involved were particularly scary or something, I understand. But if not ... was there a reason that you didn't speak up?

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[info]wiped
2006-02-08 08:48 am UTC (link)
i'm wondering the same thing, myself.

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[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:48 pm UTC (link)
true, i should have said something - i do regret that. It just didn't occur to me at the time.

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[info]mad_pig
2006-02-08 01:30 am UTC (link)
One of the ways of saying "no" in Mandarin (不是 búshì) sounds like "bullshit" to me.

There are also a few words in Arabic that begin with the letters faq-, and since /q/ draws /a/ backwards...

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[info]akibare
2006-02-08 03:19 am UTC (link)
OH yeah. Popular expression with Chinese weekend school kids the world over! :)

As for the original story... oh man. That never would have crossed my mind, but now... wow. I must admit I'm kinda chuckling, but I (thankfully!) wasn't there!

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[info]mad_pig
2006-02-08 04:19 am UTC (link)
I should've also mentioned the number of Japanese words pronounced shitsu, which remind me of... tiny dogs.

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[info]pne
2006-02-08 09:18 am UTC (link)
I remember chuckling when I learned that the Japanese word for "jealousy" is shitto.

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[info]joudama99
2006-02-08 01:10 pm UTC (link)
*snicker* I STILL remember the first time I learned that one.

In the junior high class I was team teaching English in when the Japanese teacher said it. My eyes *so* flew open and my jaw about hit the floor.

Needless to say, I will never, ever, ever forget that one.

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[info]soyelmango
2006-02-08 10:52 pm UTC (link)
My chuckle was in French classes... "aussi" sounds like cantonese for doing a poo.

And there's a comedy show here where the bigot English couple say "I'm not eating no shit ache [shitake] mushrooms."

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[info]bluntmouse
2006-02-15 10:36 am UTC (link)
There's a great scene in Austin Powers (3rd?) where he's talking to a Japanese guy using (half covered) subtitles, there is stuff like "would you like some shit" Austin yells "what?' "oh shitaake" and so on
Really dumb but I love it

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[info]champagnesheik
2006-02-08 03:21 am UTC (link)
Bahaha, that's hilarilous/interesting!!!

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[info]hweimei
2006-02-08 03:42 am UTC (link)
Sounds more like "neh-guh" to me.

Just sayin.'

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[info]tenou_k
2006-02-08 04:17 am UTC (link)
Maybe if he was super super Beijing and had mad heavy retroflexive tendencies.

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[info]gogalucky
2006-02-08 06:35 am UTC (link)
yummmmmmm retroflexx

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[info]hweimei
2006-02-08 03:08 pm UTC (link)
Or Taiwanese, like my mom.

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[info]ugly_boy
2006-02-11 11:07 pm UTC (link)
Though 那個 literally means "that one" isn't it also used as an interjection, just a sort of meaningless part of speech? My Chinese professor says it all the time and, being half black, I always chuckle a little inside when he points at me and says 那個.

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