August 1, 2008 2:25 PM
An Unfortunate Mandarin Word
A month into my stay here in Beijing, my Mandarin has not improved much. I'm able to order to do the essential things -- like saying hello and ordering beer -- but otherwise, I have no idea how to say anything.I have learned to listen for a few specific words, though. I'll teach you one right now.
One commonplace word is 那个, which means "that one" or "those." Translated into the English alphabet, it looks like this: nèige.
Beijingers tend to talk very fast, and when they do so, it makes it much harder for me to pick up on the words and the tones they're using. When pronounced quickly, "nèige" sounds very much like a certain racial epithet also beginning with the letter N. So when a Chinese person gets excited and starts yelling out this word in public, my head immediately turns.
I'll note this as well: I knew this country was going to a bit strange when I started hearing the word "nèige" in the background whenever I walked by. As a large, white, Jewish male, you can imagine my confusion at what exactly they seemed to be saying about me.
August 3, 2008
9:44 PM
Michael writes:
dude, thats so funny
May 26, 2011
8:46 AM
Ling Dall writes:
This only helps make all of us realize exactly how foolish is the present day system. I furthermore enjoy that the article would not say it is actually bad, exactly that you will get recognized and you ought to hesitate. Anyway, i just head out sleep at this time, i most certainly will reveal that to my partner another day, simply because he's at work at this point. Keep on to write!