Same Same...but Different

[femalefarang]

So this is my first post and I've recently returned from my first ever visit to Thailand!!

Excuse my ignorance , but what exactly does 'same same, but different' mean? I seemed to hear it pretty much everywhere I went but have no idea what it means.

[BambinA]

same same, but different

phrase

Meaning: "Yes, something kind of similar to that, but not the exact same thing."

Note: this meaning can vary by degrees depending on the speaker.

This is a phrase I originally encountered in Thailand, although it seems prevalent in Cambodia, and Malaysia as well — especially among taxi, tuk tuk, bus, and motorbike-taxi drivers and those that deal directly with foreigners such as myself.

Here's an example of the phrase as used in a real-life situation:

"Hmm, the 12:30 bus to Chiang Khong is full. Tell me, is there another bus leaving today?"

"Yes."

"And it goes to Chiang Khong?"

"Yes, same same, but different."

[in this case, "same same, but different" means that the bus has the same route but a different departure time]

From http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1006382

[DavidHouston]

I think that the genesis of "same . . . same" is the U.S. military's involvement in Viet Nam. See, for example, http://www.amazon.com/Same-But-Different/dp/B000HDZAXC. And, here is a reference to the "national slogan of Cambodia": http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/133/story/107185.html

Pidgin is universal. Esperanto was a manufactured language of the elite - it did not last. The various pidgin English languages are a bottom-up phenomenon and are much more durable, don't you think?

[aanon]

So this is my first post and I've recently returned from my first ever visit to Thailand!!

Excuse my ignorance , but what exactly does 'same same, but different' mean? I seemed to hear it pretty much everywhere I went but have no idea what it means.

i think it's more that thais are mistranslating something they would normally say, คล้าย ๆ แต่ไม่เหมือน (klai klai dtae mai meuan). a better literal translation would be 'similar similar but not the same'. it's just that many thais know "same" but fewer know "similar".

all the best.

[mangkorn]

So this is my first post and I've recently returned from my first ever visit to Thailand!!

Excuse my ignorance , but what exactly does 'same same, but different' mean? I seemed to hear it pretty much everywhere I went but have no idea what it means.

i think it's more that thais are mistranslating something they would normally say, คล้าย ๆ แต่ไม่เหมือน (klai klai dtae mai meuan). a better literal translation would be 'similar similar but not the same'. it's just that many thais know "same" but fewer know "similar".

all the best.

I agree completely with aanon here - if it indeed came from Thais. The only other possibility could be that the addition of "...but different" was just something really dumb invented by farangs who spend too much time in beer bars.

[realthaideal]

"i think it's more that thais are mistranslating something they would normally say, คล้าย ๆ แต่ไม่เหมือน (klai klai dtae mai meuan). a better literal translation would be 'similar similar but not the same'. it's just that many thais know "same" but fewer know "similar"."

I think you have a good point there with the doubling of คล้าย like that, but I've also always had another theory- We tend to use lots of small connector words and pronouns that go undetected by Thais as they grab onto the big ones that help them decode our speaking (of course we do the same and miss lots of smaller important words until we get attuned to their lang as well). I figure with their ears unattuned to hearing the 'th' in thing, and not really understanding it, they hear us actually saying 'same same' when we are in fact telling something is the 'same thing.' I don't think I'm too far fetched here, though it's all just a theory. But whenever I ask Thais what I've said - and we're talking your average-not-too-good-speaker Thais...and perhaps-meet-them-in-a-bar-Thais, they don't realize we're saying two distinct words.

When I think of an actual situation now, like 'Pepsi and Coke are the same thing,' I could see where a Thai would substitute the same same and never notice, though you'd actually be saying something different. But still very close and...almost same same.

[JohnnyThai]

Ive never heard this outside of the tourist areas.

[aanon]

Ive never heard this outside of the tourist areas.

i heard "same same" regularly when i was learning thai - from people not in any way connected with the tourism trade. as for "same same but different", i don't recall ever hearing it.

all the best.

[mangkorn]

Ive never heard this outside of the tourist areas.

i heard "same same" regularly when i was learning thai - from people not in any way connected with the tourism trade. as for "same same but different", i don't recall ever hearing it.

all the best.

I've never heard it either. I think it's just a stupid T-shirt.

[meadish_sweetball]

Ive never heard this outside of the tourist areas.

i heard "same same" regularly when i was learning thai - from people not in any way connected with the tourism trade. as for "same same but different", i don't recall ever hearing it.

all the best.

I've never heard it either. I think it's just a stupid T-shirt.

Nah, the t-shirt was made after the expression and not the other way round.

But it is no doubt a tourist area expression in the form 'Same same but different' - 'same same' you can hear more widely.

Trying to recall when I first heard 'Same same but different' I think it was from a Westerner and not from a Thai, some time back in the mid nineties. It's all a bit of a joke, nothing to take too seriously.

There used to be a nice driftwood bar near the southern end of Koh Lanta that was called 'Same same but different' too. It opened around 1999.

[DavidHouston]

"Same Same was a pop band consisting of identical twins, Bob and Clint Moffatt. Same Same was based in Thailand and they sold albums and perform mainly in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_Same

[baabaabobo]

I believe there is a bar of that name on Phi Phi

[mangkorn]

No doubt there are a lot of farang bars called that: would be the only places you'd ever hear it - and not from Thai people.

[Suszzy]

Ive never heard this outside of the tourist areas.

me too!!

[Briggsy]

2 meanings

1. "Similar"

2. "Not the same but producing the same result.

The reasons behind this pidgin English phrase, I guess are:-

a. Few Thais know the word 'similar' but same is very commonly known.

b. 'Same, same but different' has become a taught, passed-on, funny phrase amongst Thais working with foreigners principally in the tourist field.

c. 'Same' is a repeating word in Thai. i.e. "Meuan meuan" is grammatically correct Thai.

d. It is a useful way of dealing with tough questions!

[mangkorn]

2 meanings

1. "Similar"

2. "Not the same but producing the same result.

The reasons behind this pidgin English phrase, I guess are:-

a. Few Thais know the word 'similar' but same is very commonly known.

b. 'Same, same but different' has become a taught, passed-on, funny phrase amongst Thais working with foreigners principally in the tourist field.

c. 'Same' is a repeating word in Thai. i.e. "Meuan meuan" is grammatically correct Thai.

d. It is a useful way of dealing with tough questions!

"Meuan gan" is grammatically correct Thai.

[Briggsy]

2 meanings

1. "Similar"

2. "Not the same but producing the same result.

The reasons behind this pidgin English phrase, I guess are:-

a. Few Thais know the word 'similar' but same is very commonly known.

b. 'Same, same but different' has become a taught, passed-on, funny phrase amongst Thais working with foreigners principally in the tourist field.

c. 'Same' is a repeating word in Thai. i.e. "Meuan meuan" is grammatically correct Thai.

d. It is a useful way of dealing with tough questions!

"Meuan gan" is grammatically correct Thai.

Your reply suggests that เหมือน ๆ does not exist. The repetition of the word is correct as are the repetition of words such as ทุก and พร้อม. "Meuan gan" is also correct. In fact 'meuan' can be used many ways. Here are some examples. (Apologies for not typing in Thai but I'm too slow.) "Phee nong doo meuan gan." (The brothers look alike.) "Na ta meuan phor". (He looks like his father.) "Mai ngai meuan thee khun khit." (Not as easy as you think.) "Khun rak khao meuan gap gleeat phom." 'You love him as much as you hate me.'

So to summarise, there are several grammatical constructions in Thai which can include the word 'meuan'. 'Meuan gan' is one of these. The repeating of the word may or may not have influenced the creation of the pidgin English phrase, "Same, same but different."

[DavidHouston]

For the Korean or older origin of this phrase, see http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/w...s-l&P=10542. The phrase same-same has been around for a long time.

[katana]

i think it's more that thais are mistranslating something they would normally say, คล้าย ๆ แต่ไม่เหมือน (klai klai dtae mai meuan). a better literal translation would be 'similar similar but not the same'. it's just that many thais know "same" but fewer know "similar".

all the best.

Yes, if you search คล้าย ๆ แต่ไม่เหมือน on Google, you get quite a few hits on Thai language websites. Seems to be quite a common phrase.