ลูกครึ่ง

 

from what i can tell, it translates literally to "a half-child"    ...this sounds vaguely less-than-polite to me. 

 

i looked it up in my pocket dictionary (Thai-to-English), which provided the definition "half-caste"   ...this sounds like the kind of term that could derail a political career in a farang country. 

 

is it acceptable to use the term  ลูกครึ่ง  in public?  

 

is it acceptable to call a  ลูกครึ่ง   a  ลูกครึ่ง  to the  ลูกครึ่ง's  face?

 

is there a more polite term that essentially means the same thing?

It's widely used and just means a half Thai and half some other rationality person  not rude in my opinion.

36 minutes ago, BananaBandit said:

ลูกครึ่ง

 

from what i can tell, it translates literally to "a half-child"

For it to translate literally to "a half-child", I think you would have to switch the order so it reads ครึ่งลูก. Kind of like ครึ่งชั่วโมง means a half of an hour, whereas ชั่วโมงครึ่ง means an hour and a half.

 

I have asked people if they, or their child, is a ลูกครึ่ง and it did not bother them. Of course it was a friendly conversation. Actually calling someone a ลูกครึ่ง might be similar to calling them a 'farang' or a 'gringo'. I think it really depends on your tone of voice and if you are being friendly or not.

  

 

4 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

For it to translate literally to "a half-child", I think you would have to switch the order so it reads ครึ่งลูก. Kind of like ครึ่งชั่วโมง means a half of an hour, whereas ชั่วโมงครึ่ง means an hour and a half.

 

I have asked people if they, or their child, is a ลูกครึ่ง and it did not bother them. Of course it was a friendly conversation. Actually calling someone a ลูกครึ่ง might be similar to calling them a 'farang' or a 'gringo'. I think it really depends on your tone of voice and if you are being friendly or not.

  

 

Not rude at all. Simply don't translate it. ครึ่งลูก means half of a child, which might be rude. 

 Also the 2525 edition of the RID says ลูกที่เกิดจากพ่อแม่ ซึ่งโดยเชื้อชาติ ฝ่ายหนื่งเป็นชาวตะวันตก และอีกฝ่ายหนึ่งเป็นชาวพื้นเมืองทางตะวันออก child of parents which by race one is from the West and the other from the East of Thailand and notes (มักใช้ในทางที่ว่าไม่สุภาพ) Likely to be used derogatorily. 

However the later editions have changed the definition to child of parents of different nationalities and makes no comment. 

Not rude, you can definitely use this word in public and with strangers.