Amusing Thai Words...

[aanon]

my favourite word of the moment is พลบ (plop)!

it means dusk, but i just find the sound highly amusing...

also, i like some of the stuff you get from direct translations...fun to casually slip into a conversation.

car garden : รถสวน : cars passing

suck dust : ดูดฝุน :vacuum

heard any good ones?

and, for a bit of a challenge, who can work out the meaning of this:

"don't share soft medicine!"

it's cool that thais are almost always up for a bit of wordplay, i think.

[Neeranam]

"don't share soft medicine!"

ya baeng yaa paeng paeng

[Neeranam]

What about:

new wood doesn't burn, does it?

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

[aanon]

"don't share soft medicine!"

ya baeng yaa paeng paeng

hey neeranam, good try but that's not it...

as a hint, ya อย่า is correct and yaa ยา is correct too. or at least the sounds are right.

by the way, is 'ya baeng yaa paeng paeng' a saying?

[LivinLOS]

While I am terrible at forgetting the Thai words that go along with some of these I continually get a kick out of the names they use to come up with a name style description for items. All of these are from the mouth of my GF so may be unique but am lead to believe they are generic use.

Frisbee.. Plate fly

Brussel sprout.. Little cabbage

Fins (swimming).. Shoe frog

ingenious.. Explain what needs to be said.. Love em

[Edward B]

What about:

new wood doesn't burn, does it?

ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้ ใช่ไหม - (máai mài mâi mâi châi măi)

and, for a bit of a challenge, who can work out the meaning of this:

"don't share soft medicine!"

I have no idea. My guess is อย่าแจกยาจืด - (yàa jàek yaa jèut) , but it doesn't sound right to me.

How about:

1. Who sold the chicken eggs?

2. Old man "Toh" fell out of the palm tree to his death. (hint: alliteration)

[Rikker]

Another variation on the "burning wood" one:

ไม้ใหม่ไหม้ไหม ไม่ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้

(Is the new wood burning? No, the new wood isn't burning.)

1. ใครขายไข่ไก่

The version of 2 that I've heard is: ตาตี๋ตกต้นตาลตาย

There's also a longer version of 2:

ตาตี๋ไต่ต้นตาล ต้นตาลตำตูดตาตี๋ ตาตี่ตกต้นตาลตาย

(Old man Ti climbed a palm tree, the palm tree pricked old man Ti's bottom, old man Ti fell out of the palm tree to his death.)

Good stuff!

Edited January 16, 2007 by Rikker

[rak sa_ngop]

A few words I have pronounciation problems with (hopefully I have made no/few mistakes):

คมนาคม (คะมะนาคม) kha ma naa khom means communication

คณะกรรมการ (คะนะกัมมะกาน) kha na gam ma gaan means commitee

กรรมกร (กัมมะกอน) gam ma gon means workman, labourer

So is the Communication Workers Commitee:

คณะกรรมการกรรมกรคมนาคม

or

kha na gam ma gaan gam ma gon kha ma naa khom??

Just wondering.

[In the Rai!]

"don't share soft medicine!"

How about อย่าเเบ่งกันยา and then I am lost (soft medicine) ยานิ่ม or ยาอ่อน just doesn't sound correct.

ITR

[ThaiGoon]

and, for a bit of a challenge, who can work out the meaning of this:

"don't share soft medicine!"

it's cool that thais are almost always up for a bit of wordplay, i think.

I'm Thai, so I know this one. It's "Yaa Pan Ya On." (Sorry I can't type Thai right now.) Or "Don't be silly" in English, right? That's a good one by the way.

[aanon]

and, for a bit of a challenge, who can work out the meaning of this:

"don't share soft medicine!"

it's cool that thais are almost always up for a bit of wordplay, i think.

I'm Thai, so I know this one. It's "Yaa Pan Ya On." (Sorry I can't type Thai right now.) Or "Don't be silly" in English, right? That's a good one by the way.

hey, in the rai, you were so close! thaigoon, you got it...nice work.

อย่าปัญญาอ่อน

in less politically correct times, we might have said it means 'don't be a retard!', but of course thaigoon's translation captures the feel of it better.

so thaigoon, have you got any good ones?

[ThaiGoon]

so thaigoon, have you got any good ones?

I heard of a few, but don't remember any of them right now. Sorry.

[Neeranam]

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

Anyone suss out why?

[aanon]

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

Anyone suss out why?

because she had a roll of toilet paper and looked uncomfortable?

once i had shocking ท้องเสีย and couldn't face dinner. my hosts are saying "ยามีนะ, ยามี"

i'm thinking, "i don't care how yummy it is, i just can't do it!"ี

[ThaiGoon]

once i had shocking ท้องเสีย and couldn't face dinner. my hosts are saying "ยามีนะ, ยามี"

i'm thinking, "i don't care how yummy it is, i just can't do it!"ี

Hahahaa...

[meadish_sweetball]

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

Anyone suss out why?

บวชชี / ปวดฉี่

[Neeranam]

QUOTE(Neeranam @ 2007-01-16 07:06:56)

QUOTE

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

Anyone suss out why?

บวชชี / ปวดฉี่

yep - very similar sounding.

[loong]

เมื่อมั่งมีมิตรมากมาย ไม่หมายหมอง

เมื่อมัวหมองมิตรมอง เหมือนหมูหมา

เมื่อไม่มีหมดมิตร ไม่มองมา

เมื่อมอดม้วย แม้นหมูหมา ไม่มามอง

A thai tongue twister

[Neeranam]

Does anyone know the one about the 'yai' and the 'hoi' - I forgot it/

[In the Rai!]

I remember once when I was a real beginner in learning Thai a woman told me that she was going to the temple to become a nun. I thought she was going to the toilet!

[In the Rai!]

I have always liked

ดึงดูด = attract

ดึง (pull)

ดูด (suck)

to pull and suck = attract

[Rikker]

เมื่อมั่งมีมิตรมากมาย ไม่หมายหมอง

เมื่อมัวหมองมิตรมอง เหมือนหมูหมา

เมื่อไม่มีหมดมิตร ไม่มองมา

เมื่อมอดม้วย แม้นหมูหมา ไม่มามอง

A thai tongue twister

Thanks for posting that! My wife's told me that one before, but every time I try to get her to repeat it carefully so I can jot it down, she doesn't feel like it. Saved me the trouble.

Quite the little treatise on the fickle nature of fame and friendship.

Now to go memorize it...

[aanon]

I have always liked

ดึงดูด = attract

ดึง (pull)

ดูด (suck)

to pull and suck = attract

i like that too 'in the rai'. after reading your message i slipped it casually into conversation and it went down a treat!

another amusing word: กระเพาะแพะ as a way to say someone is ugly (หน้าอย่างกับกระเพาะแพะ). similar to "a face like a dog's arse", i guess. as is often the case, the phonetics are just as satisfying as the image. actually, i have no idea what a goat's stomach looks like, but it can't be good!

[In the Rai!]

I have always liked

ดึงดูด = attract

ดึง (pull)

ดูด (suck)

to pull and suck = attract

i like that too 'in the rai'. after reading your message i slipped it casually into conversation and it went down a treat!

another amusing word: กระเพาะแพะ as a way to say someone is ugly (หน้าอย่างกับกระเพาะแพะ). similar to "a face like a dog's arse", i guess. as is often the case, the phonetics are just as satisfying as the image. actually, i have no idea what a goat's stomach looks like, but it can't be good!

So thats what those girls were saying to me......

Aanon, yes I like it alot ดึงดูด you can sort of use as in a lure to get people to do something or it can be used as atractive เป็นที่ดึงดูด give that one a go.

cheers ITR

[rak sa_ngop]

I have always liked

ดึงดูด = attract

ดึง (pull)

ดูด (suck)

to pull and suck = attract

i like that too 'in the rai'. after reading your message i slipped it casually into conversation and it went down a treat!

another amusing word: กระเพาะแพะ as a way to say someone is ugly (หน้าอย่างกับกระเพาะแพะ). similar to "a face like a dog's arse", i guess. as is often the case, the phonetics are just as satisfying as the image. actually, i have no idea what a goat's stomach looks like, but it can't be good!

So thats what those girls were saying to me......

Aanon, yes I like it alot ดึงดูด you can sort of use as in a lure to get people to do something or it can be used as atractive เป็นที่ดึงดูด give that one a go.

cheers ITR

I once forgot to say the first word ดึง when wanting to say 'attract customers" i.e. ดูดลูกค้า and received some very excited responses from the staff of the bar I was in.

[Rikker]

แรงดึงดูด is also a word for "gravity" in the sense of gravitational pull, although the term which I believe is more proper is แรงถ่วง (or แรงถ่วงโลก).

[bkkmick]

I think that a great descriptive phrase is ท้องเสีย (Thong See-a) for diarrhea. It translates to 'Broken stomach'

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