How To Say 'please Excuse Us' ?

[Trevor]

'Awk pai' (get out) is rather harsh and rude; what are the more-cultured alternatives? Thanks.

[neion2000]

fa:k khaw: khwa:m

leave, go out, depart... I think...

[meadish_sweetball]

fa:k khaw: khwa:m ฝากข้อความ

= Leave a message (for somebody)

Does not seem to work in this case unless i have misinterpreted your phonetics.

I would attempt something like:

[appropriate pronoun referring to self dep. on relation to person adressed] ขอเวลาคุยส่วนตัวกับคุณ [name of person you wish to speak with alone] หน่อย ครับ / ค่ะ

ขอเวลาคุยส่วนตัวกับคุณ X หน่อย ครับ

kŏr way-laa kui sùan dtua gàp koon X nòi kráp

But I am sure there will be better suggestions.

[aanon]

fa:k khaw: khwa:m ฝากข้อความ

= Leave a message (for somebody)

Does not seem to work in this case unless i have misinterpreted your phonetics.

I would attempt something like:

[appropriate pronoun referring to self dep. on relation to person adressed] ขอเวลาคุยส่วนตัวกับคุณ [name of person you wish to speak with alone] หน่อย ครับ / ค่ะ

ขอเวลาคุยส่วนตัวกับคุณ X หน่อย ครับ

kŏr way-laa kui sùan dtua gàp koon X nòi kráp

But I am sure there will be better suggestions.

this is a tricky one because i imagine that the expression would change greatly depending on the relationship between the three parties. i'll just give one imagined scenario:

[female HR person asks pla's mum (who has accompanied pla to the job interview) to leave the room for a moment]

เดี๋ยว...ฉันขอพูดกับคุณปลาแป๊บนึงนะคะ เชิญคุณนั่งรอข้างนอกไปก่อนนะคะ ขอบคุณค่ะ

umm...i'd like to speak to khun pla for a moment...please take a seat outside for the time being...thank you

if it sounds a bit indirect and overly wordy, i agree. in many situations thais speak like this, being gentle and careful not to offend anyone.

all the best.

[meadish_sweetball]

Agree that sounds very idiomatic for the situation.

I wonder what a man talking to an employee would use though?

If we could know what situation gave rise to Trevor's question maybe it would help.

[taxexile]

ขอเวลาคุยกับค.x.หน่อย แป๊บหนึ่ง

Edited February 7, 2008 by taxexile

[aanon]

ขอเวลาคุยกับค.x.หน่อย แป๊บหนึ่ง

nice and concise.

[Trevor]

OK ... specific situation ... in a hospital's private room recovering and don't want the nurses coming in and out & hovering around.

อย่ารบกวน ? Yah rob gu-un ? Don't disturb. Seems there's no analogue for please excuse us?

[Murf]

ขอไห้ห้านาทีขุยกันนะครับ

[aanon]

OK ... specific situation ... in a hospital's private room recovering and don't want the nurses coming in and out & hovering around.

อย่ารบกวน ? Yah rob gu-un ? Don't disturb. Seems there's no analogue for please excuse us?

ขอเวลาส่วนตัวนิดนึงครับ

i/we would like a little private time, please.

there is a thai version of the "Do not disturb" sign. I think it's กรุณาอย่ารบกวน (please don't disturb). this would be ok for a door sign, but รบกวน may sound too strong in speech unless you're talking to someone of 'lower' status.

all the best.

[jhs]

IMO aanon and murf's recent examples would each be fine. Depending on the setting, you may get away with ขอคุยกันก่อนครับ or just ขอคุยกันครับ. I myself would probably say เดี๋ยวขอเวลาส่วนตัวครับ.

P.S. It's a myth that Thais speak "indirect and overly wordy"; it just depends on the individual. If somebody used any of the shorter examples aanon, murf, or I suggested, no listener would think anything of it.

[meadish_sweetball]

It's a myth that Thais speak "indirect and overly wordy"; it just depends on the individual.

Definitely agree that ultimately it depends on the individual, as well as the relation between the speakers, but I still think the Thai norm is that using indirect, rather long phrases is the polite/correct way.

[aanon]

IMO aanon and murf's recent examples would each be fine. Depending on the setting, you may get away with ขอคุยกันก่อนครับ or just ขอคุยกันครับ. I myself would probably say เดี๋ยวขอเวลาส่วนตัวครับ.

P.S. It's a myth that Thais speak "indirect and overly wordy"; it just depends on the individual. If somebody used any of the shorter examples aanon, murf, or I suggested, no listener would think anything of it.

it would be an over-generalisation to say that thai always speak in an "indirect and overly wordy" fashion. indeed, no one is saying that.

by the way, on the question of indirect speech, if you look at the range of acceptable ways of saying "please excuse us" that we have come up with, they are all somewhat indirect. none has said "leave the room. close the door".

of course, this is not unique to thai - "please excuse us" is indirect, and something like "i was just wondering whether you could take me to the airport" is almost absurd if interpreted literally.

all the best.