Taking advantage, Give an inch and takeing a yard, Taking the p!ss ...............

When a staff member takes 2 1/2 hours for lunch without permission !

What could I use as a quick , stern but polite rebuke ?

Something that could be used on an overcharging vendor would be good, especially if its an old proverb or similar

Thanks for your thoughts

Pilchard

Taking advantage, Give an inch and takeing a yard, Taking the p!ss ...............

When a staff member takes 2 1/2 hours for lunch without permission !

What could I use as a quick , stern but polite rebuke ?

Something that could be used on an overcharging vendor would be good, especially if its an old proverb or similar

Thanks for your thoughts

Pilchard

hmm...

here's a suggestion for the long luncher. it would be considered pretty strong, i guess, though still being a little coded in thai vagueness:

อย่าเอาเปรียบ(ความใจดีของ)เขามากไปนะ

in this case, you say เขา but mean yourself. bracketed bit is optional.

practically speaking, this is not going to work on its own. the person warned is likely going to feign ignorance (or perhaps be genuinely perplexed) and you're going to have to explain at length why you're unhappy. this being the case, perhaps you're better off just discussing directly why you're unhappy and hold off on the veiled threat unless they're really not taking you seriously.

all the best.

edit: come to think of it, my suggestion is too strong and arguably doesn't fit your 'stern but polite' criterion.

One should think a bit of sarcasm might do the trick

ทานข้าวอร่อยไหมครับ คุณ X?

The likely reply would be อร่อยค่ะ

In which case you could respond:

ผมก็สงใสเหมือนกัน ว่าต้องอร่อยแน่ๆ เลย เพราะว่าคุณหายไปตั้งสองชั่วโมง

โอกาศหน้าช่วยใส่กล่องให้ผมลองกินบ้างด้วยซิ่ครับ

"Did you enjoy your lunch, Ms. X?"

"Yes, it was delicious"

"That's what I suspected, it must have been delicious, because you disappeared for 3 hours. Next time please get a box to take away so I can try some too."

Not really 'stern but polite', just something I might use myself. Some people really hate sarcasm though, so "your mileage may vary".

Thanks Meadish & aanon but i'm looking for something a bit more proverbial.

I found this on a web search but don't understand the literal meaning.

"Give him an inch, and he’ll take a yard."

ได้คืบจะเอาศอก ได้ศอกจะเอาวา

dai kheuup ja ao saawk dai saawk ja ao waa

Could someone translate each words literal meaning for me, I find things much easier to understand and remember like that.

Thanks

Hi,

Some info here:

http://thai-language.com/id/210491

Thanks Meadish & aanon but i'm looking for something a bit more proverbial.

I found this on a web search but don't understand the literal meaning.

"Give him an inch, and he’ll take a yard."

ได้คืบจะเอาศอก ได้ศอกจะเอาวา

dai kheuup ja ao saawk dai saawk ja ao waa

Could someone translate each words literal meaning for me, I find things much easier to understand and remember like that.

Thanks

Give a saawk (length of the forearm) and he'll take a wah (a wah is four saawk)

Thanks Meadish & aanon but i'm looking for something a bit more proverbial.

I found this on a web search but don't understand the literal meaning.

"Give him an inch, and he’ll take a yard."

ได้คืบจะเอาศอก ได้ศอกจะเอาวา

dai kheuup ja ao saawk dai saawk ja ao waa

Could someone translate each words literal meaning for me, I find things much easier to understand and remember like that.

Thanks

Give a saawk (length of the forearm) and he'll take a wah (a wah is four saawk)

Thanks SBK & Katana , iv'e never heard those terms before. From Katanas suggested website i got the first part to finish the whole proverb( plus another 100 proverbs to study,great site).

Give a Kheuup (Palm span) and he'll take a saawk. Give a saawk (length of the forearm) and he'll take a wah (a wah is four saawk)

Tried this on a Thai friend and they didn't understand a word, probably more to do with my bad pronunciation.

Changed old messures for metric and she understood !