This incident actually happened a few years ago. What reminded me of it was the “Baruch” blog post of Alessandra. I was thinking what to write for this blog post, and this story flashed into my head…
“那个…” This is how I usually start a conversation in Mandarin. It means “um…” if you use it the way I use it. When I was in high school, I talked to my friends in Mandarin. I would say “那个…”, and then we would talk about random things or start our “topic of the day”. One day during lunch, I had something to say, so like usual, I said, “那个…” But this time, a friend in our classroom jumped at the word and started looking around for the speaker. After he realized I was the one who said the word, he acted so surprised.
He came over and said, “Did you just said THE word?”
“What do you mean ‘THE word’?” I was so confused and annoyed because he disturbed my trail of thoughts.
“You know… The word…” He whispered “THE word” into my ear.
“No! Why would you think that?” This time, it’s my turn to jump at the word.
“Well, what DID you say?” he asked.
“I said ‘那个’…” and he cut me off my sentence again.
“You see? You just said it!”
That’s when I saw the problem. If you know Chinese, then you would know that the phrase “那个” actually sounds a lot like the N-word. He thought I was saying the N-word! Anyway, I explained to him how I was actually speaking Chinese, and he apologized with a face so red that he had to run away to cool himself off.
He was African American.
(Image from pmtips.net)
I found this piece so entertaining to read! I had the same experience before but it was just a bit different. I speak a Chinese dialect called Hakka, as well as Mandarin. One day at church, I was about to ask my mom a question but it had slipped my mind just as I opened my mouth to speak. Instead, what came out of my mouth was “Gai gei… gai gei…,” which means “um…” just like 那个. To my mom and I, this phrase was nothing special and was used in our daily conversations. However, my friend a few seats away from me froze, dropped his fork, and just stared at us. I thought, “Why is he staring at us like that?” It wasn’t until I got home that I realized “gai gei” sounds a lot like “gay guy”, except the words are switched around. Ever since that incident, I’m a little more careful about saying that around those who don’t understand the dialect!
Great post! I’m Chinese, so I know what you’re talking about. This reminds me of a well-known comedian, Russell Peters. I don’t want to give it all away, but here, you can watch the excerpt where he talked about the same thing. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=K7lIO9vd5Pg#t=389s
Thanks! It is the exact same word we are talking about!
It was a very funny post! It very so reminded me of my friend’s story when she went to the McDonalds in Turkey. When it was her turn to order, she didn’t know what she wanted so she started saying “um” multiple times. The cashier started laughing. My friend didn’t realize what was going on until her friend reminded her that “um” means vagina in Turkish. Your story and my friend’s story shows how certain words in English may sound like curse words in other language and how words in different languages sound like curse words in English.
http://translate.google.com/#en/tr/Am
Press the “Swap Languages” button to see for yourself!
That’s hilarious!
This post was an example of very efficient writing that got a lot across in a short amount of time. This type of situation has occurred with me many ties before, but usually with other Indian people. For example, there are some words in the English language that mean totally different things in Hindi and Punjabi. One time, when I was nine years old, one of my Indian friends and I were at an ice cream shop. This was my first experience with the ice cream flavor “tutti fruity”. My friend and I could not hold back our laughter, as the word “tutti” also means feces in Punjabi. These situations happen very often, but that does not make them any less entertaining!
A wonderful exchange here (post and comments) about languages –funny and serious!
That’s hilarious! Actually, when I went to read a poem I wrote at a poetry contest, one of the poems was exactly about this situation, with that word! It won 2nd place. I think you could definitely relate to it. You can read it here (scroll to page 20, on the bottom)
http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/humanities/poetry/upload/PIP_40_HS_Booklet_Poems.pdf
I can only imagine how embarrassing that was ! Haha.
P.S. A poem I wrote is in there too, if you’re curious! Haha. That’s on the bottom of page 13.
Thank you! I’ll definitely read it!
I agree with previous comments. This post is really funny! It’s interesting how a phrase in one language can have a meaning in an entirely different language. I have also noticed this occurring often when I’m communicating in Chinese with friends who are not as fluent in the language. It’s frustrating, yet hilarious, when they mistaken my words for a different meaning. Thank you for writing this post. Now I’ll be more conscious if I ever use those words in a conversation with someone who doesn’t understand Chinese well.