Our little exchange has taught me a valuable lesson, the value of using a Thai /English dictionary, where the 'legwork' has been done; I had already finally been convinced of the fact, when I finally looked at one of my So Sethaputra copies,หากิน def. to earn a living,(of animals)to go hunting. Apologies to all especially Yoot who did state at the outset that he was not addresing my point. I can honestly say that I had never bothered to look it up before, the fact of it being two verbs together, did not cause me concern, I read กิน as a noun believing that there was no need to be too literal in Thai. Interestingly หาเงิน simply says to make money which is no surprise but 'one word' and a verb. I honestly believe it would have been better if seperate words were written seperately, but then it wouldn't have been so interesting and, dare I say it illogical. I am a stubborn old fart and since every time I make a post and reply to a reply it seems to end the process, suspect that I am in the wrong place.

According to the Matichon Dictionary of the Thai Language the phrase “หากิน” to mean “ ประกอบอาชีพ ว. เรียกผู้หยิงโสเภณีว่าผู้หยิงหากิน”, “to earn a living; (eloquently) a prostitute is called ‘a working girl’.” One of the interesting uses of the phrase “หากิน” is in the expanded phrase “หาเช้ากินค่ำ” which per Matichon means “หาเลี้ยงชีพไปวันๆ” or “earning one’s living on a daily basis”. The phrase “หาเช้ากินค่ำ” means, literally, “to seek in the morning and to consume in the evening” but which is very close to the English figurative phrase, “living from hand to mouth.”

Thank you, Tgeezer, for raising this very useful phrase.

According to the Matichon Dictionary of the Thai Language the phrase "หากิน" to mean " ประกอบอาชีพ ว. เรียกผู้หยิงโสเภณีว่าผู้หยิงหากิน", "to earn a living; (eloquently) a prostitute is called 'a working girl'." One of the interesting uses of the phrase "หากิน" is in the expanded phrase "หาเช้ากินค่ำ" which per Matichon means "หาเลี้ยงชีพไปวันๆ" or "earning one's living on a daily basis". The phrase "หาเช้ากินค่ำ" means, literally, "to seek in the morning and to consume in the evening" but which is very close to the English figurative phrase, "living from hand to mouth."

Thank you, Tgeezer, for raising this very useful phrase.

Thanks, My dictionary is ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน ๒๕๒๕ is the date. โสเภณี follows โสภา which I would find looking up ญ. หญิง โสภา from the ก. ไก่ book. In my 'wireing' this has a sort of symetry about it which helps me and possibly others 'wired' the same way, but maybe I should stick to Mr Sephaputra and avoid confusion.