Meaning Of Idiom "dez-moh-ray"

[toptuan]

Dez-mo-ray (stress on last syllable, secondary stress on first syllable); sorry don't have it in Thai script.

When the Thais say it, it almost sounds French. I understand it literally means "dead already," but not sure what language it originates from. I've heard it used as an insult about a lazy person when you try to get them to do something. "Oh don't ask Chanapai to help with the dishes, he's "dead already." Can anyone confirm or correct this? Also, can it be used about inanimate objects that don't work or stop operating? "Borrow my motorcycle? Sorry, it's 'dead already.'"

I suspect a somewhat related idiom is "mai bpen sapparot." (Not a pineapple). Can it be used in the same circumstances?

[bangkokrick]

Dez-mo-ray (stress on last syllable, secondary stress on first syllable); sorry don't have it in Thai script.

When the Thais say it, it almost sounds French. I understand it literally means "dead already," but not sure what language it originates from. I've heard it used as an insult about a lazy person when you try to get them to do something. "Oh don't ask Chanapai to help with the dishes, he's "dead already." Can anyone confirm or correct this? Also, can it be used about inanimate objects that don't work or stop operating? "Borrow my motorcycle? Sorry, it's 'dead already.'"

I suspect a somewhat related idiom is "mai bpen sapparot." (Not a pineapple). Can it be used in the same circumstances?

Yes it means dead and can be used as a joke or literally.

Cheers, Rick

[aanon]

Dez-mo-ray (stress on last syllable, secondary stress on first syllable); sorry don't have it in Thai script.

When the Thais say it, it almost sounds French. I understand it literally means "dead already," but not sure what language it originates from. I've heard it used as an insult about a lazy person when you try to get them to do something. "Oh don't ask Chanapai to help with the dishes, he's "dead already." Can anyone confirm or correct this? Also, can it be used about inanimate objects that don't work or stop operating? "Borrow my motorcycle? Sorry, it's 'dead already.'"

I suspect a somewhat related idiom is "mai bpen sapparot." (Not a pineapple). Can it be used in the same circumstances?

it originates from the song, 'that's amore'. to thais, the the word 'that' in the refrain sounded similar enough to 'dead', and so 'dead sa more ray' became a colloquial extension of 'dead'. the meaning is just 'dead'.

mai pben saparot generally means 'it doesn't taste good'

all the best

[siamesekitty]

I'm embarassed to admit that I've never heard this word before, and that I'm actually learning it from this farang website. or maybe I've heard it before but assumed it was just another way of playing around with English words.

Anyway, from my Googling I've found it spelled as เด็ดสมอเร่, เด็ดสมอเร, เดดสมอเร่, เดดสมอเร, เดดสมอเรย์, เด็ดสะมอเร่, เด็ดสะมอเล่, etc, all sorts of combinations.

เด็ดสะมอเล่ appears to be the most popular though.

Edited May 17, 2008 by siamesekitty

[siamesekitty]

Funnily enough, I found a post on the Andrew Biggs Academy webboard mentioning that one of his shows last year mentioned this word:

เรื่อง ตอน เด็ดสะมอเร่ ที่ออกอากาศทางช่องสาม วันที่ 23 สิงหาคม 2550

and another post on sontayamusic.com:

เด็ด-สะ-มอล-เล่ คำพูดติดปากของคนไทยมาจากเพลงนี้ ---> That's Amore - Dean Martin

[Rikker]

A humorous colloquialism created in a similar way is อึ้งกิมกี่. As best as I can tell, from anecdotal evidence and my own (unreliable) logic, the phrase อึ้ง already existed in Thai, meaning "speechless". There also happens to be a well-known chain of car parts (I think) stores called อึ้งกิมกี่ (a Chinese name--there's a branch near Victory Monument whose sign is right at light of sight as you're about to come down off of the expressway).

So for no reason other than that the first syllable of the Chinese name is the same as the word for speechless, อึ้งกิมกี่ became a humorous variant of อึ้ง. And it might be just me, but it seems like it's even used as an intensified form; so to be อึ้ง is to be at a loss for words, but to be อึ้งกิมกี่ is to be utterly speechless.

Seems like the same thing is going on here with dead/dead-sa-mo-re.

Edited May 17, 2008 by Rikker

[mangkorn]

What about: ชีวิตไม่เป็นสับปะรด ?

I've gotten different answers when I've asked people to explain the meaning, and am not quite clear about it. Does it just mean bored, or depressed, or in despair?

[riga]

What about: ชีวิตไม่เป็นสับปะรด ?

I've gotten different answers when I've asked people to explain the meaning, and am not quite clear about it. Does it just mean bored, or depressed, or in despair?

I would have guessed "life is not easy" or "life is not good at this moment"

[5tash]

What about: ชีวิตไม่เป็นสับปะรด ?

I've gotten different answers when I've asked people to explain the meaning, and am not quite clear about it. Does it just mean bored, or depressed, or in despair?

I think it is a phrase used when someone is bored with life. ไม่เป็นสับปะรถ can mean bland, tasteless, boring.

If someone is bored with life, I suppose they can feel depressed also.

Edited May 17, 2008 by 5tash

[aanon]

another one of these is the extension of "ok" to "ok cigarette". i can't offer any background though. does anyone have any info on where it came from?

all the best.

[siamesekitty]

another one of these is the extension of "ok" to "ok cigarette". i can't offer any background though. does anyone have any info on where it came from?

all the best.

Once again this is a phrase I'm not familiar with, but I've managed to find its background.

The phrase originated from the days of World War II, when there were American soldiers in Thailand. After each meal, each soldier would receive a box of rations that included: coffee, sugar, cream, chocolate, cigarettes, matches (1 small pack of each).

Young boys (5-10 years old), carrying bananas, would run to the soldiers shouting "โอเค, ซิกาแร็ต!" ("ok, cigaratte!" - pronounced as cigarette+chocolate), asking the soldiers to trade their cigarettes or chocolate for the bananas. There would then be a negotiation, using raised fingers, over how many cigarettes or pieces of chocolate would be traded for how many bananas.

http://www.sarakadee.com/feature/2000/08/108.htm

[aanon]

siamesekitty, many thanks for taking the time to solve that long-standing puzzle for me! the link came up as gobbledygook, but your summary tells me plenty. this particular expression is one i've only heard from older people (60+), so perhaps it is mostly restricted to their generation.

all the best.

[CSS]

siamesekitty, many thanks for taking the time to solve that long-standing puzzle for me! the link came up as gobbledygook, but your summary tells me plenty. this particular expression is one i've only heard from older people (60+), so perhaps it is mostly restricted to their generation.

all the best.

Yes, thanks Kitty. That was interesting. Aanon, if you change your "character encoding" you should be able to see it. When I first opened the page it was gobbledygood too but with the Firefox browser I went to "view" then "character encoding" and selected "Thai (windows 874)" or if you don't have that encoding listed yet you may have to go to "view-character encodings-more encodings-SE & SW Asia-Thai (Windows 874)" I'm not sure of the process for Internet Explorer or other browsers.