因為發音和N開頭的種族主義詞彙相似，中文的「那個」被很多網友笑稱不能在美國使用。然而，就是這樣的一個段子，居然也能照進現實。
最近，美國南加州大學教授格雷格巴頓（Greg Patton）在上課時，因說出漢語詞「那個」音似英語中種族歧視性詞彙「Nigger」（意為「黑鬼」），直接導致他被學生投訴，且被校方停課。
The University of Southern California has placed a professor on leave after he said a Chinese word that sounds similar to a racial slur in English while teaching a communications class.
當地時間8月20日，受疫情影響，巴頓通過網絡授課的方式與學生進行交流。在講解到「填充詞」的運用場景時，巴頓說道，像「呃」「嗯」等語氣詞，在不同國家有不同說法，比如在中國，人們會用「that that that」，也就是「nèi ge, nèi ge, nèi ge」（那個）。
Greg Patton, a professor at the university’s Marshall School of Business, was giving a lecture about the use of "filler words" in speech during a recent online class when he used the word in question, saying, "
If you have a lot of 'ums and errs', this is culturally specific, so based on your native language. Like in China, the common word is 'that, that, that'. So in China it might be 'nèi ge, nèi ge, nèi ge.'"
不過，Greg Patton在說「那個」的時候，聽起來更像是漢語口語中的「內個」。
8月21日，學生們給校方發了一封郵件，稱Patton每節課都要重複發音類似Nigger的詞5次左右，「冒犯了我們班級裡的所有黑人成員。」
In an Aug 21 email to university administration, students accused the professor of pronouncing the word like the N-word "approximately five times in every communication class", and said he "offended all of the Black members of our class".
學生們認為Patton的發音與這個詞的實際發音「差別很大」，稱這位教授「明顯疏忽且不夠尊重」，影響了學生們的心理健康。
Claiming the actual pronunciation of the word is 「much different」 from Patton’s, the students accused the professor of 「negligence and disregard」 and said the lecture affected their mental health.
校方隨後發布聲明表示，「近日，南加大一名教師在課堂上使用了一個聽起來像英語中種族歧視單詞的中文詞彙。我們了解種族歧視性語言所帶來的歷史性的、文化上的、負面的影響。」
「Recently, a USC faculty member during class used a Chinese word that sounds similar to a racial slur in English,」 the university said in a statement. 「We acknowledge the historical, cultural and harmful impact of racist language.」
校方還表示已經安排另一位教授接手Patton的課程，且會認真反思以便更好了解當前局勢，並採取行動。
Another professor is instructing the class after Patton 「agreed to take a short term pause while [the university is] reviewing to better understand the situation and to take any appropriate next steps.」
幾天之後，Patton本人也道歉了。他解釋道自己教了10年課程，這樣的例子幾年前也給國際學生講過。至於發音問題，他認為可能是自己在上海的時候學來的。
Days later, Patton apologized, explaining that he has taught the course for 10 years and had been given the example by several international students years ago. He added that the transcript of the session records his pronunciation as 「naga」 and that his pronunciation of the word comes from time spent in Shanghai.
「發音、口音、上下文和語言都會有不同，但是我並沒有把這個詞和英文單詞聯繫起來，當然也不是任何種族主義表述。」
「Given the difference in sounds, accent, context and language, I did not connect this in the moment to any English words and certainly not any racial slur,」 he wrote.
學校官網上的個人資料顯示，Patton本人是「溝通、人際關係以及領導能力」方面的專家，獲得過「很多獎項」，是該校的頂級教師人才，幫助USC馬歇爾學院在溝通和領導力發展方面蟬聯相關排名的世界第一。
According to a brief bio on the school’s website, Patton is 「an expert in communication, interpersonal and leadership effectiveness」 who has received 「numerous teaching awards, been ranked as one of the top teaching faculty at USC and helped USC Marshall achieve numerous #1 worldwide rankings for Communication and Leadership skill development.」
對於這樣一件段子成真的「教學事故」，微博網友表示費解：真的什麼都是種族歧視，入魔了。
同時，也有網友「真誠」建議，歌手大張偉就不要考慮去美國發展了：
綜合：21世紀英文報 National Review RT 觀察者網 環球網