A Bump

[Joel Barlow]

Speed bump

a bump in the road

to stumble over a bump

you'd think it a common enough term

but I can't find a Thai equivalent for it anywhere

and only get very confused conversations asking!

any help out there?

(thanks...)

[CSS]

Speed bump

a bump in the road

to stumble over a bump

you'd think it a common enough term

but I can't find a Thai equivalent for it anywhere

and only get very confused conversations asking!

any help out there?

(thanks...)

Speed bump: Interestingly they call this a ลูกระนาด (lôok rá-nâat)

[taxexile]

ระนาด ........ i think that also means one of those thai xylophones

[Joel Barlow]

well thanks. guess I'll look ranat up!

[Briggsy]

คันถนน Khan thanon. Literally a levee in the road.

[CSS]

ระนาด ........ i think that also means one of those thai xylophones

It does indeed. That's why I think it's so interesting.

[Joel Barlow]

ระนาด ........ i think that also means one of those thai xylophones

It does indeed. That's why I think it's so interesting.

Ra-naaht is also to pile up, or a jumble of things. This is not a bump.

While I do appreciate the input, I've still no word for bump!

Kan tang is block the way, gan tanon would be block the road. OK, maybe it's just "puut yai"...

a bump on the head can be a tuum, I think

but a bump on a path, that you might trip over? I remain at a loss on this!

but thanks for trying...!!!

[taxexile]

maybe you would have to say that the road "is not smooth" "mai reep" , or " kru!kra!"

there is a phrase "bpen lum bpen bor!" which seems to approximate to uneven , but i'm not sure exactly how its used.

perhaps , seeing as the roads are in such good condition here , the thais have little use of a word for bump.

[CSS]

ระนาด ........ i think that also means one of those thai xylophones

It does indeed. That's why I think it's so interesting.

Ra-naaht is also to pile up, or a jumble of things. This is not a bump.

While I do appreciate the input, I've still no word for bump!

Kan tang is block the way, gan tanon would be block the road. OK, maybe it's just "puut yai"...

a bump on the head can be a tuum, I think

but a bump on a path, that you might trip over? I remain at a loss on this!

but thanks for trying...!!!

I disagree. This is the word for a speed bump in the road. You can do a google search for ระนาด and ถนน if you like. It will bring up plenty of uses of Ra-naaht as a speed bump in the road. You are correct though, this is not the word for the proverbial bump in the road that causes you to stumble. I think you'll need to find the Thai equivalent in meaning rather than a literal translation for "a bump in the road (along the way to your goal)," though. Loosely translated this meaning could translate simply as an "obstacle" or อุปสรรค, if I understand you correctly. Good luck searching.

All the best.

[meadish_sweetball]

อุปสรรค meaning obstacle is the word suggested for the English metaphorical use of "bumpy ride" or "bumps along the way" in my Oxford-River Books dictionary. Just like CSS says, you can not expect Thai to use exact equivalents of English words and idioms - the languages are sometimes fundamentally different in how most people would choose to express themselves.

To describe 'a bumpy road' (literally), the word taxexile suggested - ขรุขระ is probably the best choice. If you are talking about the way to somewhere (a goal etc) in a metaphorical sense, you would use เส้นทาง rather than ถนน.

"bpen lum bpen bor!"

Strictly speaking, this seems to suggest potholes rather than bumps, but still useful. Thanks for sharing.

[DavidHouston]

In Bangkok, in the Lak Sii area, there is a road which runs around the North Park golf course. A sign warns cars which use the road to beware of "เนินสะดุด". This location is the only place I have seen the word used and I do not know if it is common currency in Thai. "เนินสะดุด" [nern-sa-dut] literally means "a hill over which one stumbles", a fitting term to what these monsters do to the springs and struts of your car.

[Neeranam]

maybe you would have to say that the road "is not smooth" "mai reep" , or " kru!kra!"

Don't you mean mai reet?

[taxexile]

the word i meant was "riap" , เรียบ . i thought "reet" , รีด, means to press or squeeze.

[DavidHouston]

A Googled website provides the following dialog regarding the construction of speed bumps. Note the use of the term "ลูกระนาด" as noted by CSS above. (Note: the dialog has been adapted and shortened from the original.)

______________________________

ในซอยใกล้บนมีการสร้างลูกระนาดถี่ยิบ 5 - 10 เมตรสร้างลูกนึง ซึ่งซอยดังกล่าวเป็นที่สัญจรไปมา มีหอพัก บ้านคนอยู่อาศัย แต่เมื่อมีการสร้างลูกระนาดทำให้มอเตอร์ไซต์ขับขี่ลำบาก เลยอยากสอบถามว่าประชาชนทั่วไปหรือชุมชนมีสิทธิ์สร้างเองไหม ในพื้นที่ทางสาธารณะ สงสัยมานานแล้ว

There has been construction of speed bumps every 5 to 10 meters along the soi close to my home. This soi is a well-travelled thoroughfare which is lined with dormitories and private homes. However, the construction of the speed bumps has created difficulty for motorcycles driving along the soi. I would therefore like to ask whether private individuals or communities have the right to build such speed bumps along public roads. I have been wondering about this for a while.

ตรวจสอบการก่อสร้างลูกระนาดแล้วอยู่ในซอย บริเวณดังกล่าวมีหอพักนักศึกษาจำนวนมาก วัยรุ่นขับขี่รถจักรยานยนต์ด้วยความเร็วสูงประชาชนร้องเรียนให้ทำลูกระนาดเพื่อลดอุบัติเหตุในการขับรถ

[Answer from the Municipality of Nakorn Sawan] I have investigated the construction of speed bumps in that soi. This area has a lot of student dormitories. Young men and women tend to drive motorcycles along this road at high speeds. Members of the community had therefore requested construction of speed bumps to reduce the frequency of driving accidents.

[soundman]

Another word for "speed bump" that I hear quite often in the construction industry is ลูกคลื่น - look kleun - literally a wave.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[Joel Barlow]

I like "เนินสะดุด" [nehn-sa-dut] - as literally meaning "a hill over which one stumbles", quite what I was looking for!

will look it up in my dictionaries.

[Joel Barlow]

I like "เนินสะดุด" [nehn-sa-dut] - as literally meaning "a hill over which one stumbles", quite what I was looking for!

will look it up in my dictionaries.

Rats. a 'nehn' is a hillock. A "grassy knoll" might be a bump to some, but, well, for instance on a skate-board, it's entirely a thing of a different order...

and the problem with "luk gleun' is repetative pattern. A single bump.

Lots of languages don't have lots of words that English does, due to it taking from many, many sources...

but most physical things still have names, and to me, at least, a bump is often a physical thing...

[DavidHouston]

All of these words are metaphors anyway. We should not expect literalism in the case of imported physical elements. We should be happy that the Thais invented words for this thing and do not use a transliterated "sa-peed bum" or something similar. "เนินสะดุด" has a nice onomatopoeic sound which conveys the notion of "bump," especially when sitting in the back seat of a not-very-well sprung pick-up truck.

Thanks for creating this topic.

[Joel Barlow]

someone who noticed this thread had another term, and told me of it (I don't know why he didn't post).

Koh klang tanon. Island in the middle of the road. (not a traffic island, but something sticking out...)...

said he'd seen it on road signs (I have not ever noticed that one myself).

I realize Thais like to use thanon for English spelling of their word for road, but that just doesn't look right to me... and "goh" would be like the ancient game I used to play with they guy who told me this...

so... might their be a 'koh klang sen tang'?

[meadish_sweetball]

I realize Thais like to use thanon for English spelling of their word for road but that just doesn't look right to me...

That is because the RTGS is not specifically intended for English speakers.

It's just intended for representing Thai in Latin letters, and peculiarities of the English spelling system such as using 'th' for a lisp are not taken into account - the lisp is not phonemic (does not carry meaning) in Thai. The 'th' here is in order to distinguish aspirated sounds (having a puff of air after them) from unaspirated (having no puff of air after them). In the RTGS, the unaspirated sound of ต is represented by 't'.

I think you may have missed the point that combining two words in an expression, in any language, is not necessarily the same thing as mathematical addition. The meaning of the component parts in isolation is not always relevant.

Take 'round robin'. Using the same type of reasoning, where is the bird, or the Sherwood-dwelling outlaw, not to mention Batman's sidekick?

[Joel Barlow]

uh... I was joking

and still don't have quite the right expression for a bump in the road for one's plans in life...

[tgeezer]

uh... I was joking

and still don't have quite the right expression for a bump in the road for one's plans in life...

Gosh, George Bush has got a lot to answer for; wasn't he the one who invented the term 'Road-Map' to for use where neither a road or a map is involved? I look forward to the Thaigrit "a bump in the road for One's plans in life" might bring forth.

[mangkorn]

All of these words are metaphors anyway. We should not expect literalism in the case of imported physical elements. We should be happy that the Thais invented words for this thing and do not use a transliterated "sa-peed bum" or something similar.

Hmm... "sa-peed bum" could have several possible connotations...

[tgeezer]

uh... I was joking

and still don't have quite the right expression for a bump in the road for one's plans in life...

Gosh, George Bush has got a lot to answer for; wasn't he the one who invented the term 'Road-Map' to for use where neither a road or a map is involved? I look forward to the Thaigrit "a bump in the road for One's plans in life" might bring forth.

ลูก ระนาด as already stated in the first reply, just ask a Thai.

[mangkorn]

ระนาด ........ i think that also means one of those thai xylophones

Just guessing, but perhaps the road-term originated from those patches of serrated pavement designed to make cars slow down, as when approaching a toll booth, or a military installation? There's a xylophone-like quality to them, although the melody is surely wanting...

[Joel Barlow]

hmmm... a xylophone in the road to one's goal in life...

maybe it should be "an accordian"?

[Wanida]

We call it "luuk ra naat"

ลูกระนาดบนถนน มีด้วยกันหลายรูปแบบ ไม่ว่าจะเป็น โค้งต่ำ, โค้งสูง, โค้งบาง, สี่เหลี่ยม, ครึ่งวงกลม หรือ ลักษณะอื่นๆ

ไม่ว่าจะเป็นลักษณะไหน ถ้าคุณขับขี่แบบไม่นุ่มนวลก็จะส่งผลไปยังชิ้นส่วนต่างๆ ของรถยนต์ให้เกิดความเสียหายได้

[meadish_sweetball]

Thank you Khun Wanida for confirming the usage of ลูกระนาด.

Is this word also ok to use in metaphors?

This means, not the actual speed bumps we see on the road in real life; but when we talk about problems or obstacles we encounter on the way towards a goal.

[Wanida]

if about life problems

อุปสรรค ขวากหนาม are the words for it.