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Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

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Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#101

Post by prerok »

andybak wrote: post #52
prerok wrote: post #42

Some time ago a fellow countryman, a basketball player, made it into NBA. After a controversial ruling by a judge that one of his teammates performed a foul, he kept yelling "ni ga, ni ga, ni ga". Contextually translated, he meant "he hadn't touched him". He had to apologize profusely and explain to no end what he meant. Regardless, his career was soon over after that. We, non-native speakers, must be really careful…

I'd like to read more about this incident. Which country? Do you have a link to any article on this? Or a name I can search for?

Sorry, cannot find any news remaining on the web regarding the incident. I suppose the reason is that it was some time ago.

The basketball player in question was Marko Milič: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Milič

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#102

Post by Semaphor »

dgellow wrote: post #39
himinlomax wrote: post #33

I've always found the US obsession with taboo words quite baffling. I used to tease Americans of my acquaintance by pretending to be offended when they said "oh my god" (dildo in French) or nick (fuck.) Context matters a lot in linguistic, and the Sapir-Worff hypothesis is not just unproven, it's almost certainly completely wrong.

Without trying to be alarmist, I have a feeling that's slowly spreading to Europe too, at least France and Germany.

Do you have examples for Germany? Haven’t heard much of it.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#104

Post by tasogare »

neilv wrote: post #56

I just watched the video after reading the article, and the video -- if it's of the incident to which people were objecting -- wasn't as cringey as I expected it to be; however , I would've hoped that an expert who was lecturing about language and culture would've anticipated the problem, and been more sensitive to it. Maybe, if he saw the problem, he could've prefaced the example with warning, or otherwise acknowled…

> I would've hoped that an expert who was lecturing about language and culture would've anticipated the problem, and been more sensitive to it.

I’m learning Mandarin Chinese and consequently have use "nei-ge" quite a high number of times and I also happen to know English and it NEVER occured to me it is somehow related to the n-word before today. People who want to see racism could find everywhere anyway, it’s a lost battle.

Not using words that could be insulting in other languages is an impossible tasks and ridiculous thing to ask given how many of them there is.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#105

Post by himinlomax »

neilv wrote: post #94
bananaface wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you need to be developmentally disabled to genuinely think that foreign language words that resemble curses in your language are offensive. It's not on the professor to do backflips to protect against people looking for excuses to get offended.

I'd say it's not merely a curse word, for reasons I already suggested in the comment to which you're replying: I argue that it's understandably hurtful to some, and is associated with immense, tragic, shameful wrongs towards groups of people. Separately, could you have made your point without saying that anyone who thinks differently than you must be developmentally disabled? Would it have been sufficient to say you…

> hurtful to some

If you're hurt by hearing someone speaking Chinese, there is something wrong with you, not with the Chinese speaker.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#106

Post by hansjorg »

This is so far out there that there must be something else going on.

From his profile, the dean (Geoff Garrett) does not seem like someone who would be overly concerned with something like this.

Could it be a play for Trump? If not, is there something special with the power relationship between the MBA students and the University? Could it be a large company paying for their employees degrees threatening to withdraw?

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#109

Post by Jaxkr »

nmfisher wrote: post #68
Jaxkr wrote: post #17

Lmao. I go to school with a lot of mandarin speakers (CU) and it’s fun to see non-Chinese-speaker’s ears perk up when they hear something so close to a racial slur. I made a joke about this exact scenario years ago.

> Lmao. I go to school with a lot of mandarin speakers (CU) and it’s fun to see non-Chinese-speaker’s ears perk up when they hear something so close to a racial slur. Don't tar all non-Chinese speakers with the same brush. As far as I can tell, this is a purely American phenomenon. No other country is so addicted to taking offense that foreign languages are now danger zones.

That’s fair. I should mention I’m in America.

Re: Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge

#110

Post by coldtea »

ascar wrote: post #40

> "Professor Greg Patton repeated several times a Chinese word that sounds very similar to a vile racial slur in English. Understandably, this caused great pain and upset among students, and for that I am deeply sorry. It is simply unacceptable for faculty to use words in class that can marginalize, hurt and harm the psychological safety of our students. We must and we will do better." It's unbelievable that this "un…

>Understandably, this caused great pain and upset among students

Why, aren't they adults? (Over 17 will do in most countries to consider them so).

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