3 ms·
This word means "uhmm" and you can hear it dozens of times in a single conversation. It sounds like an English-language racial slur, but you stop being surpris
by latch 6y ago
This word means "uhmm" and you can hear it dozens of times in a single conversation.
It sounds like an English-language racial slur, but you stop being surprised to hear it pretty quickly when living in China. The story isn't loading for me, so I don't know the context, if this was a native Mandarin speaker speaking in Mandarin...
Reminds me of the time someone pointed out that "salut" the french for "hi" sounds like "stupid donkey" in Mandarin (or maybe Shanghainese, I forget).
- nicolas_t 6y agoMore in Shanghainese than Mandarin, a lot of my French friends were teased by their Shanghainese partners because of that. This is really an example of a university administration that rejects culture and critical thinking in favor of quick snap judgement and celebrating ignorance. I'd expect better of universities, they should be a bastion of culture and critical thinking standing against idiocy. And instead of punishing that teacher, they should explain and make sure students understand that there are other cultures and that context matters.
- mytailorisrich 6y agoChinese sometimes joke that "bonjour" sounds like 胖猪 (pangzhu, which means 'fat pig').
- ev1 6y agoThe entire lead up to the professor saying it is the professor also explaining how certain cultures like in Chinese have pause words. There is absolutely all the correct context. The entire suspension is absurd.
- clairity 6y agoyes, you hear it in chinese dramas all the time (which i watch subtitled), usually as a phrase trailing off ambiguously/uncertainly. the incident seems much ado about nothing.