Gig Or Geek

[rgs2001uk]

was reading the story briggsy was telling about his gig, in the worst mess up post

my question is, is gig just the accepted romanization of thai script, or is it actually being being romanized incorrectly, not a criticsm i know i am one of the worst offenders of this.

i live in bkk and everyone i know, from uni students to older ladies in their 60s and 70s pronounce the word as geek.

it would be very easy for me to ask them to write the word in thai, but i was thinking that would be of no help to others, who cant read thai or others who may be thinking the same as i am.

one other explanation is maybe i am not hearing the word correctly or maybe it is being spoken incorrectly in bkk.

any replies with thai script, i already have an idea of how it would be spelled,would be greatly appreciated.

[meadish_sweetball]

.....

.....

กิ๊ก

There is no exact equivalent of the final sound in the word in English, because the consonant is 'swallowed' as per Thai pronunciation rules. English does not distinguish between long and short vowels in the same manner as Thai, and your individual dialect will determine how you hear it and want to romanize it.

[rgs2001uk]

thanks ms, take it thats a leek paat at the top, now understand why the confusion arises, thanks for the reply.

[siamesekitty]

it's a mai tree at the top,

-ิ๊ not -ิ + -็ (the keyboard won't even let me put -็ and -ิ together!)

Edited January 14, 2008 by siamesekitty

[rgs2001uk]

it's a mai tree at the top,

-ิ๊ not -ิ + -็ (the keyboard won't even let me put -็ and -ิ together!)

thanks sk, for us non native thai speakers the mai trii always changes the tone of the syllable to a high tone no matter what the initial consonant is.

thanks again for your reply, my eyesight must be getting worse when i cant tell the difference between the two.

[tgeezer]

was reading the story briggsy was telling about his gig, in the worst mess up post

my question is, is gig just the accepted romanization of thai script, or is it actually being being romanized incorrectly, not a criticsm i know i am one of the worst offenders of this.

i live in bkk and everyone i know, from uni students to older ladies in their 60s and 70s pronounce the word as geek.

it would be very easy for me to ask them to write the word in thai, but i was thinking that would be of no help to others, who cant read thai or others who may be thinking the same as i am.

one other explanation is maybe i am not hearing the word correctly or maybe it is being spoken incorrectly in bkk.

any replies with thai script, i already have an idea of how it would be spelled,would be greatly appreciated.

I am suprised that this word is widely used, is it the Thai word กิก ? There was another post discussing it which implied it was an adopted English word, if so what does it mean in English and how is it used in Thai?

[meadish_sweetball]

It's กิ๊ก as per above (with mai tree).

The meaning depends on who you ask as the word is fairly new and different Thais seem to have different ideas of what it means exactly.

I've seen the definition 'more than a friend but not quite a girlfriend/boyfriend'. Can entail sexual relations, but not necessarily. The key factor seems to be that กิ๊ก do not have the right to be possessive or jealous.

I don't know the etymology. It's been theorized in other threads that the origin is English 'gig' as in a rock concert.

[ElZorro]

It's กิ๊ก as per above (with mai tree).

The meaning depends on who you ask as the word is fairly new and different Thais seem to have different ideas of what it means exactly.

I've seen the definition 'more than a friend but not quite a girlfriend/boyfriend'. Can entail sexual relations, but not necessarily. The key factor seems to be that กิ๊ก do not have the right to be possessive or jealous.

I don't know the etymology. It's been theorized in other threads that the origin is English 'gig' as in a rock concert.

Siamesekitty gave us the etymology in the "worst messups" thread :"It comes from the word "goog-gig" (กุ๊กกิ๊ก), meaning cute, childish."

[DavidHouston]

See the following thread for a discussion of this word: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...p;#entry1541019

especially Grover's translation of an article from Wikipedia regarding the characteristics of the relationship.

Edited January 14, 2008 by DavidHouston

[siamesekitty]

Thank you for the links, DavidHouston, ElZorro. Let me make a few additions and corrections to the previous translations of the "10 Commandments" of กิ๊ก

หนึ่ง ห้ามหึงหวง

1. You aren't allowed to be jealous

สอง มีอะไรกันได้ แต่ไม่ใช่ของกันและกัน

2. You can have sex together, but do not belong to each other

สาม ไม่มีสิทธิเรียกร้องมากเกินเหตุ

3. You do not have the right to be overly demanding

สี่ ห้ามใช้กิ๊กร่วมกันกับเพื่อน

4. You may not share a gig with your friends (presumably, the prohibition means only contemporaneous sharing; serial sharing is permitted, apparently)

ห้า กิ๊กอาจเปลี่ยนสถานะได้ และห้ามเศร้า

5. The "gig" relationship can always change status (eg. to boyfriend/girlfriend, to just friendship) In any case, you do not have a right to be sad over it.

หก ถ้ากิ๊กคิดจะมีแฟนเป็นตัวเป็นตน โดยไม่ใช่เราห้ามฟูมฟาย ต้องยอมรับด้วยความยินดี และค่อยตกลงกันทีหลังว่า จะกิ๊กกันต่อไปหรือไม่

6. If your gig decides to have a proper boyfriend/girlfriend, and it isn't you, you can't make a fuss over it. You have to accept the fact and be happy for him/her, and later the two of you can agree on whether you should continue being gigs or not.

เจ็ด ไม่จำเป็นต้องเทคแคร์กันเกินเหตุ เพราะเป็นแค่กิ๊ก

7. You don't have to take care of your gig that well, because you are just "gigs"

แปด กิ๊กไม่ได้จำกัดจำนวน เป็นอินฟินิตี้ ไม่จำกัดเพศ วัย และ สถานภาพ ถ้าไม่กลัวตาย เพราะเอดส์

8. You are not limited to the number of gigs you may have; you may have an infinite number. Gigs are not limited by sex, age, or [social] status, if you are not concerned about dying from AIDS

เก้า กิ๊กสำคัญรองจากแฟน

9. A gig is a notch less important than a boyfriend/girlfriend

สิบ กิ๊กยังไงก็เป็นกิ๊ก ต้องเจียมตัว

10. Anyway, a gig is a gig, you have to be humble [and know your place]

[siamesekitty]

From the characteristics above, doesn't that sound kinda like dating, farang-style? That's actually how I view it for the most part.

To me, a "gig" is basically someone you're dating/going out with, but you are not in a formal bf/gf relationship (or maybe just haven't gotten there yet).

Examples of "gig" situations:

- One of you or both of you already have a bf/gf, and this is basically a form of cheating, emotionally and/or physically

- Neither of you are in relationships, and you kinda like each other, but are still learning more about each other to see if a bf/gf relationship would last

- You have had sex together, and have an understanding that it's just that, sex

The word "gig" can be used rather loosely, to define relationships ranging from a simple flirtship to a full blown "mia noi" relationship

[siamesekitty]

As for the origins, I believe I have experienced the word during its formative days, before it was brought to public knowledge by those Chula students.

In college, a friend of mine used the word for a guy that I was kinda dating at that time. She had turned to her bf and said that I couldn't join them to see a movie because I was going to go with my กิ๊ก. At that time, the word was not used in mainstream Thai as it is now. My understanding is that it was from กุ๊กกิ๊ก, which when used in verb form, means basically to act flirtatiously with.

The word กุ๊กกิ๊ก, in it's pure form, without the use of the word in a romantic sense, is an adjective meaning cutesy, feminine. Think "Hello Kitty" and all the various pink/light blue/purple cartoon designs on bags, notebooks, stationary, etc.

In the romantic sense, before widespread use of just กิ๊ก, กุ๊กกิ๊ก is as I mentioned above, to act flirtatiously with someone. Think of one of those young Thai couples you see who are sitting together, poking fun at each other and giggling, making goo-goo eyes at each other. Notice how the interaction is more childish and cutesy than farang-style courtship? That's กุ๊กกิ๊ก

[tgeezer]

more childish and cutesy than farang-style courtship? That's กุ๊กกิ๊ก

So at my age I can forget this word. The Thai airways Stewards have lots of words which noone knows of if anyone is interested I can ask.