How To Swear In Thai?

[DtingDtong]

Would like to learn how to swear in thai. Some light phrases, and also some harder, when u really mean it. Just dont mix´em up..

[Oleg_Rus]

Me too, sometimes its really in demand. mean while I tell oponent to "eat banana, dirty ass (but)"

works miracles :-)

[Jai Dee]

"Allai wah?" = <deleted>?

Impolite version of "allai nah?"

But honestly, a farang using impolite or gutter Thai would be percieved by the Thais that you associate with and therefore are a person from the gutter, and not to be respected... so IMHO it's better not to use (or learn) these types of phrases.

[sbk]

Would like to learn how to swear in thai. Some light phrases, and also some harder, when u really mean it. Just dont mix´em up..

To be honest, swearing in Thai at Thais can get you into serious trouble, esp if you are a man. You may find yourself on the wrong end of a bottle if you use bad language with the wrong person.

[Thaipwriter]

To be honest, swearing in Thai at Thais can get you into serious trouble, esp if you are a man. You may find yourself on the wrong end of a bottle if you use bad language with the wrong person.

Point at any Thai youths G/F and then say to him "Ga-ree"

This activity will almost certainly invoke action in above quote

[chuchok]

"I-hear" that swearing can get you into trouble....

[Totster]

"I-hear" that swearing can get you into trouble....

hee hee...

totster

[Tywais]

I understand hoi is quite tasty...

[chuchok]

I understand hoi is quite tasty...

To coin a Totster phrase...

hee hee

Edited July 7, 2006 by chuchok

[Boon Mee]

I got frustrated one day with the BKK traffic and let a 'Aai-heeaa' slip in polite company.

Man...the looks on my friends faces disturbed me more than the fokin' traffic!

[chuchok]

I got frustrated one day with the BKK traffic and let a 'Aai-heeaa' slip in polite company.

Man...the looks on my friends faces disturbed me more than the fokin' traffic!

'Aai-heeaa' ...you were calling a taxi eh? Sould have said ''Aai-over-heeaa'

[p_brownstone]

Who was it who said “a little learning is a dangerous thing”?

Even common words can, in certain circumstances or contexts, cause problems.

I recall a Thread on this Board last year about two unfortunate Farang who got into an altercation with a Taxi driver, who then started to attack one of them with a knife. His companion, trying to help, pushed the Taxi driver away and said “Bpai!”. What he wanted to convey was “go away, stop” , unfortunately in that situation the single word “Bpai” more properly translates as “f##k off” – the sad end result was that the first Farang lost an eye when the Taxi driver reacted to the word as he would have if said by a Thai.

It’s never a good idea to try to swear in any foreign language unless you are truly familiar with the nuances, and as an earlier Poster pointed out, use of bad language reflects badly on the speaker more often than not.

Patrick

[Boon Mee]

It’s never a good idea to try to swear in any foreign language unless you are truly familiar with the nuances, and as an earlier Poster pointed out, use of bad language reflects badly on the speaker more often than not.

Patrick

Excellent advice - tough sometimes to adhere to when you are somewhat familiar with the terms and think you've got the right pronounciation down. Bottom line - Thai and just about any Asian language is a lot harder to swear in than a Latin-based language for us Farangs.

[rio666uk]

its far safer not to swear in thai to a thai unless youre comfortable with exactly what it is that you're saying, and you fully understand the consequences..

so why not just swear in your native tongue - this lowers the chances of being understood, you will know exactly just how offensive you're being and if you end up getting smacked in the mouth - well there wont be any suprises....

[agsnowdon]

Well I picked this off a certian hub.

DISCLAIMER:

I would never swear to any Thai because you don't know what might happen in return.

How_to_swear.doc

But maybe you could have some fun with your friends, but I tried it once and they didn't seem to laugh much.

[meadish_sweetball]

I agree with p brownstone and sbk above. It is REALLY a bad idea to swear in Thai. You will not accomplish anything good with it - the person you swear at is rather likely to get physical.

If you know how to speak polite Thai already it doesn't hurt to learn what the swear words are - as long as you don't use them. I have had a similar experience to Boon Mee, and I was lucky to have tried the words out with my friends first, and not with strangers...

It is a much better idea to swear in your language if you really need to do it.

[Insight]

Swearing for the sake of swearing reminds me of the playground, especially when your language skills are in the basic steps.

I can imagine this is how it would be perceived by your onlookers also.

[p_brownstone]

Swearing for the sake of swearing reminds me of the playground, especially when your language skills are in the basic steps.

That's a comparison I would never have thought to make, but it's an excellent one.

Patrick

[mrbojangles]

I agree that it's best not to even learn the words. But on the other hand it can be an advantage, as you'll know if someone is swearing at you.

Little story.

I was in a Hotel in Greece, at the pool a few yaers back. All of a sudden this big guy jumped up and threw a waiter in the pool. It turned out the waiter had been trying to hit on the big guys mrs. There followed a small exchange of words and the waiter said something like "Malaka" (i think) and it aparently means "W*nker" Unfortunately for the waiter, the big guy already knew what it meant and hence, the said waiter took a dip, got fired and gave us all a big laugh

[Johpa]

There are some things best left done in your native tongue such as counting and swearing.

It is thought that cuss words are kept in a slightly different part of the brain than is your primary lexicon. Thus we have odd mental disorders, such as Tourette's syndrome, where the afflicted emit uncontollred outburts of obscenities.

Usually you will have no feeling of relief of frustration when cussing in another language until many years of exposure. And needless to say, although you can learn the individual words, learning the total social context for the appropriate use of those words in a foreign culture will take at least that amount of time.

So keep to your own native language when cussing. It will make you feel better. It will avoid serious social faux pas that may quickly get out of control. And most of the time, people get the intent without needing to know the specifics.

[simon43]

I think there can be occasions when it is useful to know Thai swear words. If my Thai friends are talking about another (bad) person, they will probably add a few swear words to describe him etc. The ovewrall meaning will be completely lost on me if I don't know what these words mean!

Or perhaps I am talking with them about another person and I want to 'badmouth' them. I'm unable to convey in Thai what my feelings are because I don't know any Thai swear words. Of importance would be to understand the 'strength' of a swear word and what context to use it in.

I do know a few swear words and understand the context to use them in. I never use them because they are strong swear words and there has been no occasion to use them. But I can think of many occasions when I might want to say something like :

'I tried to bribe the policeman after he stopped me for speeding, but the stupid 'pr*t' (or pr*ck or whatever), wasn't interested.

Now, I wouldn't use that sort of language with the monks at the local Wat! But that sort of language might be very appropriate when I'm chatting with the builders/labourers from my wife's village.

So, there is a place and need to understand Thai swear words. I for one would like someone more skilled in written/spoken Thai than me to detail these sorts of words. (Maybe put it in Bedlam to keep the innocent out...)

Simon

[Merlin]

the trouble with swearing in English is that pretty much all of Asia knows what fsck means. Really, there's not a lot of subtle nuance to be lost with the phrase "fsck off" - it translates pretty well.

[SnakeBite]

I skipped to the bottom of this thread because I do NOT see a need to learn how to say anything that is profane to Thais. There are 2 reasons for this:

1) I hope I don't meat anyone I need to say this to

2) If you do decide to cuss someone in Thai, then you better be ready to suffer the consequencies of doing this. This is not something that I think any farang would win with and could get you into dire straights.

[Tywais]

I have to admit that I am probably familiar with most Thai profanity due to various past circumstances. Lived in a small village many years ago and it seemed common to hear this type of banter. However the most rude, vulgar language you can find is to go to a live Thai comedy act. They use terms you will probably never hear any Thai say regardless of class. I never use Thai profanity except on occasion joking with the wife who will let it go with only a slight glare at me.

[kayo]

the four and something years I learnt to speak pretty good (read/write no).

I chose to avoid learning any swear words whatsoever. Sure I incidentally picked up a few words on my adventures but I never really learnt them.

I figured if I know them, I will use them. As mentioned, this can get you in some pretty serious trouble. So, F.cuking sh1t man, don´t use ´em.

[greenwanderer108]

some of us learned the the swear words before the polite-super formal ones....not necesarrily by choice...it won't hurt you to understand the bad words if you have reasonable social skills and logical interpersonal skills, and a safe learning environment in Thailand, but it's probably not good to know how to say

'I want to do your mum in the bum'

if you wouldn't-can't even understand, let alone be able to portray that :

'Your mom is a very diligent lady'

Anyhow, you'd better not learn the swear words from the internet forum where you can't really get the context in a safe environent. If you are really set and determined to learn them, you better wait untill you have close Thai friends who are willing to use them around you, and so you can see when it is safe and proper to use them, etc. etc. If you learn them from text in a book or internet, you're only asking for trouble.

Tip one : Listen ! Swear words are used in common day talk more often then you might realize. If you can't seem to hear them or make them out in nearly every informal conversation, it's propably not a good idea to try to learn and speak them just yet, not untill you can atleast speakunderstand basic Thai....

With all that said, I'd still willingly call any over-sensitive chump on this particular forum 'mun'

[thatguy]

Well I picked this off a certian hub.

DISCLAIMER:

I would never swear to any Thai because you don't know what might happen in return.

Attached File How_to_swear.doc ( 25k ) Number of downloads: 31

But maybe you could have some fun with your friends, but I tried it once and they didn't seem to laugh much.

same info as "how-to-swear.doc"

in a more usable formatCussin___Thai.htm

[meadish_sweetball]

The chances of succeeding with that document are pretty slim, unless you can read between the lines and understand what actual sounds they are trying to describe.

It was obviously put together by somebody who doesn't have a full grasp of the terms. There are some amusing style collisions, such as using the polite pronoun khun for you, and daag ling in the same sentence.

Use at your own risk - in the best case scenario people won't understand what you are saying.

[smartecosse]

i can understand how it is important to have a "full" understanding of a language before lauching into verbal abuse at someone but it is helpfull to know what the irate person that is gobbing off at you is saying

[DtingDtong]

"Allai wah?" = <deleted>?

Impolite version of "allai nah?"

But honestly, a farang using impolite or gutter Thai would be percieved by the Thais that you associate with and therefore are a person from the gutter, and not to be respected... so IMHO it's better not to use (or learn) these types of phrases.

about a-rai-nah (allai-nah), Iv´e used it when I dont hear what someone say. Like "what?" in english, is that correct? Is it in someway a rude word? Or is there a better word to use if u want someone to repeat what they just said? And is there any difference between "allai" and "allai-nah"? Was told it has the same meaning.

Also just rememberd I said "allai-wah" by mistake one time when talkin to a girl, when I really wanted to say "allai-nah", didnt even know what it meant until now...but she didnt seem to get offended.