Favourite Word In Thai

[garro]

The sentence is หมาแลกคุ คุแลกหมา (maa lek ku ku lek maa) dog for a bucket, bucket for a dog

หมา dog

แลก exchange

คุ bucket (คุ is the issarn equivalent of ถัง) bucket

So if you have a bad dog you don't want you can exchange it for a bucket

Oops should have written Isaan not issarn, but too late to edit now.

I apologize unreservedly if I have insulted the people of Isaan.

[DavidHouston]

Garro,

Thats fascinating. There must be more to that story. Is the pick-up truck full of dogs an Isaan tradition? Are there cognates in other parts of the country? Are these folks junk dealers (sort of a pre-Ebay on wheels)? Is it really a dog for a bucket or is this a metaphor for exchange transactions in general?

Let's hear more.

[garro]

Garro,

Thats fascinating. There must be more to that story. Is the pick-up truck full of dogs an Isaan tradition? Are there cognates in other parts of the country? Are these folks junk dealers (sort of a pre-Ebay on wheels)? Is it really a dog for a bucket or is this a metaphor for exchange transactions in general?

Let's hear more.

Hi David, they really mean a dog for a bucket and it is no metaphor. They came to our village about three months ago.

My wife reckons that they sell them on to people who like to eat dog (maybe they sell them to the Vietnamese?). For some reason they prefer black dogs.

Apparently they also look out for 'road kill' too.

I love animals and find it a bit disgusting myself.

[meadish_sweetball]

Yes, the black ones are rumoured to be the tastiest.

[khaojao]

if i'm not mistaken...ONLY the pure black ones are edible.

...or perhaps that's just for the chinese??

[Options]

<br /><font size="4">The sentence is หมาแลกคุ คุแลกหมา (maa lek ku ku lek maa) dog for a bucket, bucket for a dog<br />หมา dog<br />แลก exchange<br />คุ bucket (คุ is the issarn equivalent of ถัง) bucket<br /><br />So if you have a bad dog you don't want you can exchange it for a bucket<br /></font><br />

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Yes Sir,

Thats the sound and phase "Maa Lek Ku Ku Lek Maa"

Thank You

[Youbloodybeauty]

Meadish: thanks for unlocking the dubious mystery of that preposterous font idea. I'd have never guessed it, and after a complete waste of time trying to understand it even with your clues, could only conclude that the entire notion itself is seua beua maak-maak jang leuy...

mangkorn

http://www.weygandt.de/aw_siam

Cheers YBB

[CSS]

Yes, the black ones are rumoured to be the tastiest.

I haven't sampled the others to make a comparison but I can say that the black ones do taste just fine.

To get back on topic, here are two fun words: ปุบปับ (bpòop-bpàp) suddenly; and ขมุบขมิบ ( kà-mòop-kà-mìp

) to murmur, to mumble

[fosco]

What is your favourite word in the Thai language? Mines got to be ' Som num naa'

"gob ni ga_la"

frog in a coconut

[keestha]

"ja tai" (the a pronounced long, like the last a in Alaska), it means "will die". It is used in combination with an adjective to make kind of a superlative. First I thought it could only be used in combination with adjectives which usually have a negative meaning, like nak (heavy) ja tai, or na klua (frightening) ja tai. Later I found out though, that they are also saying things like na rak (lovely) ja tai. Maybe I am dead wrong though, the word "tai" could have more meanings than the ones I am aware of, which are "die" and "south". If a native speaker or somebody who is more fluent than I am can correct me, he/she is more than welcome. As a last note I might add that I heard this expression being used both by Isaan people and by people from southern Thailand.

[DavidHouston]

"gob ni ga_la"

frog in a coconut

Very interesting. I have never heard the phrase "กบในกะลา" before. I found "กบอยู่ในกะลา" in the Thai book, "2,000 Metaphors". It seems to be a metaphor for a person who has very limited experience outside his or her little social and professional world, and maybe, being very happy with this situation. Is this your understanding as well? Were do you see this phrase being used?

Thanks again.

[meadish_sweetball]

Yes, the saying refers to people with little experience outside their own small world. The expression does not suggest happy or sad I think, just the fact that they have difficulty imagining something that does not fit their small frame of reference.

I have heard the phrase as กบในกะลา (without อยู่).

[mangkorn]

I understand the saying the same way that you guys do, but I have had more than a few Thai people tell me that it simply means "stupid." I've tried to argue the nuanced meaning, as both of you do here, but have met with some real resistance to that definition. Maybe they never gave it much thought; or perhaps it has to do with their level of education? Curious...

[DavidHouston]

I understand the saying the same way that you guys do, but I have had more than a few Thai people tell me that it simply means "stupid." I've tried to argue the nuanced meaning, as both of you do here, but have met with some real resistance to that definition. Maybe they never gave it much thought; or perhaps it has to do with their level of education? Curious...

Or, maybe, there is a general prejudice against frogs. From the same book, "2,000 Metaphors", comes the following amphibian metaphor:

"กบอยู่กอบัว แต่ไม่รู้จักบัว" – a frog who is ensconced in a lotus plant but does not know of the lotus flower; or as the book explains in a less earth figure of speech:

"คนอยู่ใกล้วัด แต่ไม่รู้จักธรรม" – a person who lives close to a temple but does not know of the Buddha's teachings," placing the frog with an anti-intellectual bent.

Furthermore, the final paragraph of the explanation of the frog and the coconut figure of speech compares this erstwhile frog to:

คนนี้ "ไม่ต่างกับกบอยู่ในกะลา ซึ่งเป็นอันตรายต่อความเจริญก้าวหน้า ของโลกมนุษ์เป็นอย่างยิ่ง." - . . . [this person] "is no different from a frog in a coconut who is great danger to the development and advancement of mankind." So, it seems that "stupid" is the way Thais do look at this analogy. (One of my attorney friends once told me that the first rule of statutory construction is "read on".)

[mangkorn]

"ja tai" (the a pronounced long, like the last a in Alaska), it means "will die". It is used in combination with an adjective to make kind of a superlative. First I thought it could only be used in combination with adjectives which usually have a negative meaning, like nak (heavy) ja tai, or na klua (frightening) ja tai. Later I found out though, that they are also saying things like na rak (lovely) ja tai. Maybe I am dead wrong though, the word "tai" could have more meanings than the ones I am aware of, which are "die" and "south". If a native speaker or somebody who is more fluent than I am can correct me, he/she is more than welcome. As a last note I might add that I heard this expression being used both by Isaan people and by people from southern Thailand.

The future-tense indicator "ja" is a short vowel, low tone (although mileage may vary). And I

don't wish to pick too many nits, but perhaps you mean adverbs, instead of adjectives.

The "tai" meaning "to die" is a long vowel, middle tone; the word for "south" has a falling tone and a shorter vowel sound. Both have the hard /T/ sound (I prefer to think of it as /dt/), while the falling tone "dai" (or "daai") means "can, able to."

I've never heard "naa rak ja tai" - but it does sound charming; perhaps it's akin to the recent English slang "to die for"?

Hmm...

I've also always wondered if that particular word for "die" didn't come from the English word. Seems like too much of a coincidence, since the formal term is "sia chi-wit." Does anybody else know the origin for sure?

[mangkorn]

David: interesting about the historical anti-frog sentiment. I suppose it must be said that frogs are pretty dumb, or so it would seem...

Also agree with meadish that, as a spoken idiom, it's usually "gob nai ga-lah," without using the word "yuu". (Sorry for the lack of Thai script here - encoding problem.) It is said in the manner of dismissing a third person (or sometimes even directly, to an intimate) as a dimwit, or a know-nothing. It is a devilishly fun phrase.

Now, the amphibious aspect has also got me wondering about the common way of referring to someone with foul body odour: "kii dtao." I have never seen it written - only heard it spoken; does it invoke turtles?

If so, what's up with that? Turtles don't smell nearly as bad as many humans do...

Or am I way off-base on the term? Whence it comes?

[DavidHouston]

David: interesting about the historical anti-frog sentiment. I suppose it must be said that frogs are pretty dumb, or so it would seem...

Also agree with meadish that, as a spoken idiom, it's usually "gob nai ga-lah," without using the word "yuu". (Sorry for the lack of Thai script here - encoding problem.) It is said in the manner of dismissing a third person (or sometimes even directly, to an intimate) as a dimwit, or a know-nothing. It is a devilishly fun phrase.

Now, the amphibious aspect has also got me wondering about the common way of referring to someone with foul body odour: "kii dtao." I have never seen it written - only heard it spoken; does it invoke turtles?

If so, what's up with that? Turtles don't smell nearly as bad as many humans do...

Or am I way off-base on the term? Whence it comes?

Ah, the turtle itself is not odiferous but its excrement is another matter.

[TheChiefJustice]

From the same book, "2,000 Metaphors"....

David, I would be most interested in the details of this book. Did you purchase it in Thailand? If so, where might one find a copy? It sounds absolutely fascinating.

[DavidHouston]

I recommend three Thai books which have been very helpful to me:

1. "๒,๐๐๐ อุปมาอุปไมย" by เอกรัตน์ อุดมพร; the cost is 90 baht. The title is "2,000 Metaphors." The book contains an alphabetical listing of many Thai metaphors, along with an explanation of each and, where appropriate, the literary source.

2. "บ่อเกิดสำนวนไทย" by ดนัย เมธิตานนท์; the cost is 200 baht. This book provides, like its title says, explanations in Thai of many Thai proverbs and sayings as well as information regarding their origins. It is a bit quirky as to layout and ordering. The sayings are grouped into sections, "Nature", "Religion", "Culture", "Stories", "Daily Life", and so forth. This leaves something to be desired in a reference book.

3. "คำคล้องจอง" by ชัยรัตน์ วงศ์เกียจติ์ขจร; the cost is 210 baht. The meaning of the title is “"Harmonious Words" or "Sonorous Sounds"”; these are the terms that are sonorous and add flavor to everyday language. Many times I find words in this book that are not in dictionaries. The format is dictionary-like.

I live in Phuket where there is only one major bookstore and all three of these titles are found in the Thai Language section. The are all new books, not esoteric titles on dusty shelves in used book stores. If you live in Bangkok, I suspect you can readily find them.