Are These Rude?

[Mai Pai]

While trying to speak Thai with a close friend, I was told that I was very rude when I spoke. I try to frequently sprinkle KRAP into my conversation but that wasn't good enough. Here are some questions that I still wonder if they are bad, rude or just not used.

NANA -to mean "bold"

PUA -to mean "husband"

MIA - to mean "wife"

geek - to mean "geek"

gai -to mean "chicks"

help please

[tomyken]

Hi,

Hope these explanation help.

NANA = Thick - Don't see any rudeness in the word itself unless maybe u are referring to someone's dick? I would take that as a praise!

PUA / SAMI = Husband - Don't see any rudeness in the word irtself unless maybe you are proposing to someone to be your husband? Isn't rude either way!

MIA = Wife - Don't see any rudeness in the word irtself unless maybe you are proposing to someone to be your wife? Isn't rude either way!

GEEK = Geek in Thai??? = Gig - a new word in Thai invented by teenagers and are widely known among all Thais nowadays. Gig = More than friends but lesser than boyfriend or girlfriend relationship = Sex Partner or a relationship closer than friends. Definitely no rudness in the word itself.

GAI = Chicken - Commonly used and can't see any rudeness in the word itself too.

I think every words itself isn't rude but it's the way u used it to express yourself.

Tips:

1) Ends every sentence with a KRUB.

2) Respond or acknowledge to the speaker with a single KRUB or KRUB POM if the speaker is an elderly person.

If u did all that, then I don't see how could u be deem rude.

Only reason that I can think of might be that people from Western or European countries tends to be very straight-forward in their conversation which Thai people deems rude.

Thai people tends to be very modest and likes to beat around the bush in a conversation; which is why u will never hear any true comments from a Thai due to their modesty.

Pay more attention listening when Thais are speaking among themselves...it helps a lot with building your own sentences and also common words that Thais used in a informal conversation among friends.

Enjoy!!!

[hkthai]

While trying to speak Thai with a close friend, I was told that I was very rude when I spoke. I try to frequently sprinkle KRAP into my conversation but that wasn't good enough. Here are some questions that I still wonder if they are bad, rude or just not used.

NANA -to mean "bold"

PUA -to mean "husband"

MIA - to mean "wife"

geek - to mean "geek"

gai -to mean "chicks"

help please

Pua

Mia

Should only be used with very close friends/family. Even then, there are some Thais who willl consider the above as the language of the uneducated and not proper to use at all.

Proper words:

Pua = Sami

Mia = Parayaa

Gai = Chicks / Slang for prostitute.

[PvtDick]

I agree; "pua" and "mia" are considered coarse. They would never be used in polite conversation. Possibly around drinking buddies, etc.

[tomyken]

While trying to speak Thai with a close friend, I was told that I was very rude when I spoke.  I try to frequently sprinkle KRAP into my conversation but that wasn't good enough. Here are some questions that I still wonder if they are bad, rude or just not used.

NANA -to mean "bold"

PUA    -to mean "husband"

MIA    - to mean "wife"

geek   - to mean "geek"

gai     -to mean "chicks"

help please

Pua

Mia

Should only be used with very close friends/family. Even then, there are some Thais who willl consider the above as the language of the uneducated and not proper to use at all.

Proper words:

Pua = Sami

Mia = Parayaa

Gai = Chicks / Slang for prostitute.

In this case, it's not a matter of rudeness. It's a matter of Thai society caste based on the usage of your Thai langauge to determine your education level or family background.

If this close friend of yours made that comment that your Thai is rude based on caste, tell he/she to go get drunk drinking Beer Chang and go get laid. I don't give a flying fxxk to such people.

[snowleopard]

While trying to speak Thai with a close friend, I was told that I was very rude when I spoke.  I try to frequently sprinkle KRAP into my conversation but that wasn't good enough. Here are some questions that I still wonder if they are bad, rude or just not used.

NANA -to mean "bold"

NANA = Thick - Don't see any rudeness in the word itself unless maybe u are referring to someone's dick? I would take that as a praise!

I've got a theory about what you might actually have said to them!

Let's look at a couple of "NA-NA" words,shall we?

The first "NA-NA=นานา" isn't that bad because it just means "different" or "many"!

There are many "NA"s in Thai!Here are two of them!

1.หนา NA=thick

2.หน้า NA=face

Standing alone,both of them mean just the above;but if you join them together,you get something completely different!The second "NA-NA"!

Namely "หน้าหนา" NA-NA=to be shameless,be brazen,to have no scruples and a few more meanings!

Could it be that you told them?

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[snowleopard]

. Here are some questions that I still wonder if they are bad, rude or just not used.

geek  - to mean "geek"

help please

GEEK กิ๊ก=an affair!

It means the same as CHOO ชู้!

Snowleopard.

[chaiyo]

NANA -to mean "bold"

PUA -to mean "husband"

MIA - to mean "wife"

geek - to mean "geek"

gai -to mean "chicks"

help please

Nana : doesn't seem to be rude

Pua : is a bit rude for some but for some is not. What I suggest is better use "sar -mee"

Mia : Exactly the same as Pua..a bit rude for some..better use "pun-ra-ya"

Geek : doesn't have this word in thai but we do have new word "Gig", it use to call someone you have an affair with.

Gai : If you use it to call chicken. This's not rude. But watch out this word! Thai people use it to call "a whore" as well. So it could be really rude.

[tatom]

I think if your Thai is real sh!tty like mine, an intelligent Thai person would realize you are not trying to be rude. They seem to be very understanding.

When we got our last dog, a german shepherd, I was telling a friend, who is the police chief about it. I told him I have a "ma tamruat" or police dog. The chief was very interested and everything was very cordial. When we got home, my wife just explained that the word "ma" should not be used with "tamruat". The word "sounak" is the polite way to say dog in that case. It would have been rude for my wife to say it, but the chief understood Im still learning.

The important thing is to always behave polite and keep trying to improve our language skills.

[chanchao]

> an intelligent Thai person would realize you are not trying to be rude.

Yes. And then they'd wonder in what circles you actually picked those up. By using pua/mia you won't offend someone (unless talking about THEIR wife/husband!) but they will know what kind of people you hang out with.

And gai when meaning girls is completely out of the question. You just don't do that unless you're with close buddies. It's actually worse than 'chicks' because 'chick' can't also mean 'whore', 'streetwalker'', etc. In some circles, even prostitutes would find 'gai' offensive as it would refer to streetwalking prostitutes, the lowest of the low!!

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Mai Pai]

Thanks for all the help.

My friend said she liked me but that if she said this then she was "na na" or "Bold" for a Thai lady to say that to a farang. Thanks for explanation Snow Leopard and everyone. Then she tried to explain relationship terms. So confusing for me as I am still trying to figure out basic writing rules [like when you can omit vowels etc.]

Another rude question...

Moo nuat massuere/massuese

Moo fan dentist

Moo general practitioner

but I was told.

MOO SAT is incorrect for veteranarian, right, calling a doctor an animal? but what is appropriate?

[snowleopard]

Thanks for all the help. 

My friend said she liked me but that if she said this then she was "na na" or "Bold" for a Thai lady to say that to a farang.  Thanks for explanation Snow Leopard and everyone.  Then she tried to explain relationship terms.  So confusing for me as I am still trying to figure out basic writing rules [like when you can omit vowels etc.]

Another rude question...

Moo nuat  massuere/massuese

Moo fan  dentist

Moo        general practitioner

but I was told.

MOO SAT is incorrect for veteranarian, right, calling a doctor an animal?  but what is appropriate?

Hi there,

You can use "moh fan" (หมอฟัน) for dentist ;but,it's even better to use "tahn-dta-paet" (ทันตแพทย์)

Doctor could be either "moh" (หมอ) or "paet" (แพทย์)

Veterinarian="sata-wa-paet" (สัตวแพทย์)

Fortune teller="moh doo" (หมอดู)

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[tatom]

Chanchao, I stand by my statement that an intelligent person would understand. They will see by your demeanor that you are not a crude person if you act polite and sincere.

Also, I am speaking from the standpoint of an Issan expat. In the Lao language, "mia" is the proper way to say wife. On the rare occasion that I go to Bangkok, I try to speak Thai, but it is difficult and I make mistakes. I sometimes say "mia" or "khop khun der or khop chai der" (thank you). I correct myself if I catch the mistake or sometimes the person Im speaking with will smile and say something about me being "Issan". Ive never had the impression that anyone thought I was rude.

Of course, if youre talking about whores, people might wonder.

[chanchao]

> Also, I am speaking from the standpoint of an Issan expat.

> In the Lao language, "mia" is the proper way to say wife.

Ah, ok, yes that would make a big difference. There are some other things in Lao language that would be distinctly rude in other parts of the country.. The circumstances or environment of course are very important before you can say if something is rude or not. It may be the same in English; there are times and places where it's totally acceptable to call David Beckham a c*nt, and then there are others where those words are less appropriate..

I get a little bit the same when I'm in Bangkok and find out some words I use are actually Northern Thai. (Or rather, people seem to assume that they were Isarn words with an iffy tone. ) The only trouble from that may occur when a person feels offended because you apparently think that he/she's Isarn, when you speak Isarn to him/her.

Of course, it seems sometimes that most people in Bangkok are in fact from there. :-) The non-hi-so people at least.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[meadish_sweetball]

The caste/class distinction in Thai is reality, and while you may propagate otherwise, being rude about it to people certainly won't change the way Thai society works. If you want to be accepted, you should be careful to use polite and "correct" language - it is EVEN MORE expected by a foreigner to use proper Thai - you may think this is biased (I think it is) but it is reality.

If you use "familiar / non-formal" Thai in formal situations, it is considered inappropriate. All languages have this distinction to a lesser or greater degree. As an example, anyone who says the "f-word" on US television will be censored.

It is especially important to use polite Thai when you make new acquaintances, and when not in "all male" situations. Men, as in other parts of the world, tend to swear a lot more than most women, and it is perfectly ok even for middle/upper class men to use "ai-hia" (f**ckng monitor lizard), "yet mae" (<deleted> your mother)and "mae-ng" (= mae meung = your f**ing mother) in those conversations, whereas they would be VERY unlikely to use them when respectable women are present.

If you refuse to acknowledge the importance of timing and situational sensitiveness when with the Thais, you will most likely run into problems. Then again, some Thais find it amusing with coarse-mouthedness... just do not expect the majority to do so.

Central Thais love to laugh at other dialects, and there is no dialect they love to laugh at so much as Isarn/Lao. This dialect signifies country-bumpkin/hillbilly status, and many coffeeshop comedians speak Lao for comic effect (they also happen to be Lao in many cases). In other words, using Lao for formal situations in Central Thailand or the South will probably not be too successful.

Of course, the Northern Thais laugh at the Isarn dialects too (and the Southern ones), while being a lot less accepting of the fact that the rest of Thailand regard the Lanna dialect as being "Lao"-ish as well... except for the streamlined "Jaaaaaaao" cliché; educated, Central Thai influenced Lanna.

[Neeranam]

My friend said she liked me but that if she said this then she was "na na" or "Bold" for a Thai lady to say that to a farang. Thanks for explanation Snow Leopard and everyone. Then she tried to explain relationship terms. So confusing for me as I am still trying to figure out basic writing rules [like when you can omit vowels etc.]Another rude question...

Moo nuat massuere/massuese

Moo fan dentist

Moo general practitioner

but I was told.

MOO SAT is incorrect for veteranarian, right, calling a doctor an animal? but what is appropriate?

When I was even worse at Thai than I am now, I once said to my wife, " bai fan moh" trying to say go to the dentist.

I was told it means go <deleted> the doctor

[username2004]

Moo nuat massuere/massuese

This is the correct translation -- but most Thais often, is not always, associate "Moh nuat" (หมอนวด) with a sexual partner. This also happens in Hong Kong, too, I guess, as I saw in a Hong Kong movie. If you've watched the series Friends, you will probably remember that Frank, Phoebe's brother, once thinks that his sister, a massuese, is a sexual partner.

Now you may wonder, so what is an appropriate, positive term for massuere/massuese? The term is "Moh nuat pan bo-raan" (หมอนวดแผนโบราณ literally means "ancient massuere/massuese," referring to "massage therapists.")

When I was even worse at Thai than I am now, I once said to my wife, " bai fan moh" trying to say go to the dentist.

I was told it means go <deleted> the doctor

Moh fun (หมอฟัน - colloquial) = than ta pat (ทันตแพทย์ - (very) formal) = a dentist

Fun Moh = to have sex with a doctor, since "fun" (ฟัน) is a slang for having sex.

NOTE: Notice the word order: Moh Fun vs Fun Moh

Fun is a very interesting word!

Fun (slang) = to have sex

Fun (V) = to blow with an edged implement, to cut wood, to hit on the head

Fun (N) = tooth/teeth