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Its less a misunderstanding I had as I grew up with Chinese speakers, but it is always fun to take a new grad student/postdoc out to lunch or something similar.
Because every language has "filler words". In English that is usually "uhm" or "like".
In Mandarin? It is "that one". 那个, Nèi ge.
And "nèi ge" sounds a LOT like the n-word. Fortunately I have found that most college towns and places that are used to an international community pick up on it pretty quick, but it is still REAL awkward when you get a side eye from a black person because this visiting scholar is trying to remember an English word.
Haha I heard that a lot over there. Its a similar sound to the phrase "this one" or maybe "that one". they both end in ge, but one starts with a ne sound, if I remember correctly. This was a long time ago
From my Chinese bosses, they translated it as "that one/ looks like" apparently it has multiple uses depending on context.