Jeddah Jo

คุณมีความลับเยอะ

So was the implication you could end up saying?

คุณมีความลับแย่

Are there many words in Thai that have no vowels whatsoever.

In my limited vocabulary I can only think of one which is

ตลก

Are there loads or are they quite rare?

JJ.

ผมกำลังจะตอบว่าไม่เข้าใจคุณ Meadish แต่ผมเข้าใจแล้ว

Just curious how you would say the following in Thai...

I was going to do something <verb> but <clause>

TIA

JJ.

Make so many awful howlers it is hard to remember them all, but a couple are...

ไปดูนัง or Bpai doo nang(M) rather than nang®

Which instead of go and see a movie, means going to go and a look at girls.

and also

ไปหมอห้า or Bpai mor haa

Which instead of going to see the doctor, I think means 'going' (sexually) with 5 doctors!

Think when talking about points in the league they use

คะแนน

I probably mis-heard this when I was leaving the room, but could someone possibly have said

ดากแห้ง

Hope not as it doesn't sound very nice

I am interested in the Thai equivelent to the questions I put so hopefully will get an answer there. I am over sixty and had to go to the dictionary to find out what 'take the piss meant' I have obviously used it often but in the third person, when the context would govern any meaning it may have, it is the sort of English which really doesn't matter. I think it has replaced 'taking the mickey' I wonder if it matters in Thai, culteral question really. One good thing about this forum is that I learn a lot more English than Thai, because I am supposed to be able to speak English. I wouldn't worry about being a bodger. (maker of chairs using foot operated lathe?) I looked that up and couldn't find it.

Well no doubt British English slang is a pretty marginalised topic for an international Thai forum, but for anyone who has an interest in the topic here is a good site.

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

JJ.

Anyone know of a thai phrase with a similar meaning to "are you taking the piss" (out of me)?

It seems to me that this topic would be better if we try to imagine a situation where you would say to someone 'are you taking the piss' replace the word 'take the piss' with another word with the same meaning, deride, ridicule, mock, you could extend it slightly to open a person to such as, and the job done. How is that question put in Thai? Oh, there is piss-take, to parody some characterisic of a person, I suspect that it will be a different question in Thai.

Final clarification from a native English speaker, I think there are two quite separate meanings of 'taking the piss' in English slang.

1) Among friends when teasing each other. 'Don't worry about John he is just taking the piss.' Which as you say may be just joking around to parody some characteristic or action of a person.

2) If when very angry you feel someone is treating you with contempt by taking advantage of your good nature you would say 'Why do you have to take the piss out of me like that?'

I think the OP is referring to the second example, so I would suggest the following very rude Thai which should probably never be used except among intimate acquaintances.

Tammai khun dtong liang pom meuan heeya!

But anyway I am a complete bodger in Thai so I have no idea if the above is even correct and I apologies for its vulagarity so please not too many flames.

JJ.

How about, "to spite":

"The girl strangled herself to spite the lover (who jilted her)." "The child ran away from home to spite his parents"?

I think spite is definitely the closest English equivalent of ประชด, but again isn't spite usually used for something more malicious like a child destroying their sibling's toys just for the sake of it?

The first part of Yoot's description "It's not only the action that you do to yourself but intend to hurt the one you care, it can be the action that you fake it or pretend to do but it's against to your feeling." is exactly how I heard the word used, and I don't think spite quite covers this. Maybe there is no English equivalent of the above? I can't think of one anyway

JJ.

I heard the word ประชด used once, and it seemed to be used in the context of an action that attempts to make someone jealous or feel bad. Did I completely get this wrong or does it really just mean taking the peee?

As for the OP when they wrote (out of me) at the end, I think the connotation there is someone taking undue advantage of a person's good nature, or not showing any consideration, or in more coarse slang 'why do you have to treat me like a c*nt'

JJ.

Please oh gurus, explain this concept to me.

The word first appeared in my consiousness when i turned down free food and drink from a friend, - just too generous.

i would appreciate any further definitions please..

Thank you very much!

Greng Jai or เกรงใจ I take to usually have two meanings.

Most common is showing consideration to the feelings of others to avoid offending them (usually those having superior status).

But I think it can also be used if you are being too polite/courteous (possibly fawning).

So if a friend says it to you, it may mean they think you are being too polite for the level of friendship they think they have. But for a senior police officer you would probably be wise to be greng jai maak maak!

That's my take anyway

JJ.

Just as long as they're not golden!

So is anyone going to explain this pun?

Apart from the sheer difficulty which is not to be underestimated, I think 'conceited' is more appropriate than 'ugly'.

In the workplace, many Thais use English terminology. When somebody pronounces, or tries to pronounce, these words according to English instead of Thai pronunciation rules, they will be mocked by other Thais.

OK that was kind of the point I was trying to get across. I was pretty surprised when a girl told me that if she spoke English properly, her friends would think she was being pretentious.

But then I suppose if I hear a Brit putting on an exaggerated French accent, or even Farangs speaking Thai at max. volume and grunting out อ๋อ อ๋อ all the time, it is not really so easy on the ear is it?

Actually now I think about it the French who only live 22 miles away from UK do a pretty good job of mangling English too

Thanks for feedback anyway.

JJ.

Obviously the OP has a very strong command of the Thai language and the can pronounce all of those difficult sounds correctly in the Thai Alphabet which is why he/she is so frustrated that Thais cant speak the OP's language perfectly....

The ability to manage the new sounds associated with foreign languages diminishes as you get older. I have heard that if you have not learned to make certain sounds by your early teens it becomes extremely difficult to master them at a later date.

For anyone that has ever tried to learn any of the chinese dialects and is from a western background will know that some of the sounds are vitually impossible to repeat correctly.

Even amongst the latin based languages it is often very difficult to mimic some of the sounds, spanish is a prime example !

Not strong at all! But I do try

I know Thai does not have aspirated word endings. But they certainly have aspirated word beginnings.

เสือ seua tiger

ส้ม som orange

ทหาร tahaan soldier

So they are perfectly capable of vocalising (or aspirating ) the sounds!

I have also learned some Dutch and Arabic in my time (both featuring consonants and vowels not heard in English), and in both cases I would at least try to repeat the unfamiliar sounds to try and make myself understood.

JJ.

When I try and learn and speak Thai, I try and get their consonants right, I try and pronounce their weird vowels correctly and I even try and get the tones right to the best of my ability.

However, when Thais pronounce English words with an aspirated ending they just give up and do not even bother to try.

Why is that? Why is it so hard for them? Is it because it sounds really ugly to them or what?

When I am bored, I sometimes try and teach Thais to say 'Excuse Me'. Even after 50 attempts it still comes out as 'Eck-Queue me'.

One girl told me, I will try but if I use them in front of friends they may feel like I am being 'แก่แดด' (possibly pretentious?).

Just curious really, why they seemingly make no attempt to speak what they hear native English speakers say.

JJ.

Isn't it also used as a classifier, for a bowl of noodles for example?

JJ.

Khroo Ae,

Question: What is the meaning in English of " เรื่องอะไรกันแน่"?

Dear DavidHouston,

"เรื่องอะไรกันแน่" in English is "Which topic or story is it? or What is the exactly topic or story?" It's a interrogative sentence asking when a person want to know/get the exactly or true story.

เรื่องอะไร "which topic or story is it?"

and กันเเน่ is using to emphasize the question like the word exactly.

Nice Day,

Kroo Ae

If I had to translate it I would say something along the lines of :-

Heads down lads it's gonna kick off in a minute.

JJ.

Most difficult: the imprecision of Thai pronouns. Some pronouns can be first, second or third person, and singular or plural - it's maddening!

It's very difficult to know the antecedents, which are often not mentioned, when reading articles or following speeches and conversations.

If you don't believe me, here is an excerpt of a letter from a highly educated Thai person who works with the language everyday as a professional translator:

"Recent speech by Khun Samak Sunthorawet on NBT was fascinating. He uses the Thai pronoun "than" in a series of sentences. In those several sentences "than" could mean "he [Gen Anuphong], they [the emergency committee], I [samak]." While he mentioned that the emergency committee was set up and that he appointed Gen Anuphong to lead it. Then Mr Samak recounted to his listeners: "Than told Than that Than could not do this. [use force to disperse protestors]" ..etc.. Who told whom? It was very disorientating to the listener."

I agree, I once had a conversation with a person who constantly used the pronoun "เขา" (he/she) to describe someone's actions. I just assumed they were talking about their friend. It turned out the entire conversation she was using เขา to refer to herself in the first person.

I am nowhere near as good at Thai as you guys but that really flummoxed me

โยธาคนจน นวลน้องหน้ามลอย่าได้ Sorry

กว่าจะได้เป็นนายช่าง เหงื่อท่วมกาละมังนายช่างก็ยังดี

It is actually a lyric from a song so maybe he is using poetic license.

Maybe something like

'The poor physical labourer will never get a pretty cream skinned girl with a blemish/mole on her face, sorry about that!'

I am sure I have got that completely wrong anyway, and the second line loses me completely, maybe something about craftsmen and floods of sweat possibly relating to certain nocturnal activities??? I really just don't know...

Any hints much appreciated and thanks very much...

JJ.

Anyone know what the meaning of this might be if used at the start of a sentence?

Nothing shows up on the online dictionary.

Might it possibly be Alas or Unfortunately?

TIA

Common ones I have heard are

Toon hua = Beloved

soot tee rak = most beloved

A rather soppy...

chan rak ter, roo mai? = You know I love you?

Then when she says

Baaah, ja awak dtek = You're crazy I'm gonna be sick

you can say

Awak dai, dtae mai dtong aii = You can be sick, but dont be embarassed

she will look confused and say

Aii arai? = Embarassed about what?

You say

IIIIIII Lurrrrrrrrrve You!!!

OK, where the mafia are involved, I suppose one has to pay.. After all, to be fair, my wife was the one who chose to be the guarantor, so I suppose it's her/my job to come up with the money. But knowing that they are also the police, this whole affair seems just not right to me!

No, it's her job to pay. She is in the mess, not you. Just try hanging tough for one moment and ask her 'How she proposes to pay this money' and see what reaction you get. That will tell you a lot more about the situation imo.

JJ.

Was speaking to an Isaan girl the other day who loves to read. She says in her village there is little else to do, and she gets through loads of books when she has occasion to go home.

She also mentioned the local temple has some kind of book club (similar to library) but you pay 100 baht a year and can borrow as many books as you want.

Books must be valued in Thai society because she said if you donate read books to the club for others to read then you gain merit which seems reasonable to me!

JJ

I finally appreciated that scamming is not racially motivated but just endemic in the culture when the sister of a girl I know ripped off her own sister with an appalling exchange rate on Thai Baht in to Laos Kip. She was sore about it but did not view it as especially out of the ordinary. She was just annoyed at herself for being so stupid

JJ.