3 ms·

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

by prerok 6y ago

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 about using words in our own language that may sound offensive in the other language. What a world we created :(

andybak 6y ago
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?
- prerok 6y ago
  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 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Milič
apexalpha 6y ago
>We, non-native speakers, must be really careful about using words in our own language that may sound offensive in the other language. What a world we created :( And it's in English as well. Growing up in Europe but heavily influenced by American Music, Movies, TV and Internet one grows up thinking that N----- or Nigga is fine to use. You hear it all the time, especially in music. Couple that with the fact that we don't really have "career-ending words" in Europe and it leads to a lot of awkward moments. You can't even say the word, and Americans tend to censor the word even when anonymously typing it online. I did because this is an American forum, but it's really weird to see to be honest. You can't even say the word as part of a debate over the word. A while back a Dutch coach was forced to resign after using the word because it was in a song: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinnati-coach-ron-jans-quits-over-n-word-allegations https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna... The fact that you aren't even allowed to sing along with a song without muting yourself on certain words that the singer sings anyway... it's just mind boggling to me...
- simongray 6y ago
  Yeah, I also noticed that Americans tend to handle every taboo word like "Voldemort". From when I was kid I always found it so odd how Americans use all of these one-letter variants of their taboo words (n-word, f-word, etc) even when everyone involved in the conversation is an adult and should be able to handle a bad word. It's one of the weirdest parts of their culture to me.
- hnick 6y ago
  It is really weird that this one word can't be said, even as a quote, even when invited on stage to sing a song by the original performer. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44209141 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44209141
- joubert 6y ago
  > You can't even say the word as part of a debate over the word. The Wikipedia entry explains the historical context of why the word is so extremely painful - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger One way to think about it is that there's almost no context where it would be constructive for a non-Black person to use the word (including singing a song, for example). Why? Because there is not a way to neutralize the emotion and history behind the word in any context. That's why the n-word euphemism was created and is the norm. It provides an acceptable replacement. When someone violates this norm, it creates resentment, intense frustration, and great offense for a large group. > A while back a Dutch coach was forced to resign after using the word because it was in a song: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna.. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna.... > The fact that you aren't even allowed to sing along with a song without muting yourself on certain words that the singer sings anyway... it's just mind boggling to me... From the article (emphasis mine): "Jans is alleged to have used the slur while singing along to a track being played in the Cincinnati locker room. A player is understood to have told Jans, who is Dutch, about the significance of the n-word in America. Jans is also understood to have made an inappropriate remark about slavery during a team visit to memorials in Washington DC in October. I do not know what the details are around "inappropriate remark about slavery", but if I was a player (esp. a black player), I would find it difficult to respect that coach.

by prerok 6y ago

andybak 6y ago

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?

prerok 6y ago
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 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Milič

apexalpha 6y ago

>We, non-native speakers, must be really careful about using words in our own language that may sound offensive in the other language. What a world we created :( And it's in English as well. Growing up in Europe but heavily influenced by American Music, Movies, TV and Internet one grows up thinking that N----- or Nigga is fine to use. You hear it all the time, especially in music. Couple that with the fact that we don't really have "career-ending words" in Europe and it leads to a lot of awkward moments. You can't even say the word, and Americans tend to censor the word even when anonymously typing it online. I did because this is an American forum, but it's really weird to see to be honest. You can't even say the word as part of a debate over the word. A while back a Dutch coach was forced to resign after using the word because it was in a song: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinnati-coach-ron-jans-quits-over-n-word-allegations https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna... The fact that you aren't even allowed to sing along with a song without muting yourself on certain words that the singer sings anyway... it's just mind boggling to me...

simongray 6y ago
Yeah, I also noticed that Americans tend to handle every taboo word like "Voldemort". From when I was kid I always found it so odd how Americans use all of these one-letter variants of their taboo words (n-word, f-word, etc) even when everyone involved in the conversation is an adult and should be able to handle a bad word. It's one of the weirdest parts of their culture to me.
hnick 6y ago
It is really weird that this one word can't be said, even as a quote, even when invited on stage to sing a song by the original performer. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44209141 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44209141
joubert 6y ago
> You can't even say the word as part of a debate over the word. The Wikipedia entry explains the historical context of why the word is so extremely painful - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger One way to think about it is that there's almost no context where it would be constructive for a non-Black person to use the word (including singing a song, for example). Why? Because there is not a way to neutralize the emotion and history behind the word in any context. That's why the n-word euphemism was created and is the norm. It provides an acceptable replacement. When someone violates this norm, it creates resentment, intense frustration, and great offense for a large group. > A while back a Dutch coach was forced to resign after using the word because it was in a song: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna.. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/feb/18/fc-cincinna.... > The fact that you aren't even allowed to sing along with a song without muting yourself on certain words that the singer sings anyway... it's just mind boggling to me... From the article (emphasis mine): "Jans is alleged to have used the slur while singing along to a track being played in the Cincinnati locker room. A player is understood to have told Jans, who is Dutch, about the significance of the n-word in America. Jans is also understood to have made an inappropriate remark about slavery during a team visit to memorials in Washington DC in October. I do not know what the details are around "inappropriate remark about slavery", but if I was a player (esp. a black player), I would find it difficult to respect that coach.