How Do You Say "hello How Are You"

[Ajarn]

Laew ru Yang... Have you eaten already, or yang mai kin?

eaten already, or not?

Which would be

Khun gin khao laew rou plao..........

or just Kin Khao rou plao.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Happy to see that, in fact, old dogs can learn new tricks

And thanks for pointing my ommission of 'yet' in 'not yet'. My brain is certainly faster than my typing

But, I don't think you'll hear "Kin Khao rou plao" much in Thailand as a greeting form...'Leew ru yang' (and ..'ru yang', 'leew yang'' ( or 'yang'...) is a common expression form to use in such situations, rather than 'ru plaaw', in my experience... My own sense as to the reason for that preference is that 'ru yang' works as a positive assumption that eating will happen- if it hasn't happened already. And eating/food is the whole point of making it into a friendly and warm greeting, just like in Chinese......

"Eat, or not?" Who would you likely say that to? An anorexic person? Someone you're asking out on a date?

But, it ain't my language, either.

Edited November 1, 2004 by Ajarn

[Ajarn]

One of my favoured replies to the question from friends is, 'yang mai thai' Not dead yet!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't try this at home, kids. "yang mai tai" might be the more standard transliteration. the "t" in english here represents the dentalized "t"in Thai which is halfway between our t and d.

I've also heard "glai(f) ja tai" almost dead -- I think.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i like this but want to make sure i'm saying dead correctly. if it ends up sounding like "yang mai dai" (yet cannot) it would really confuse people. so besides making the "t" sound like "dt", what about the tone and the vowel length?

thx steve

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Low, long tone to my ears.

[bannork]

there is a very popular song at the moment by a girl from Issan called Uratai, nickname, ต่าย, the song is called kin khao laeow yang, the album has sold over a million copies; perhaps this influenced the writer on this thread.

bannork.

[meadish_sweetball]

One of my favoured replies to the question from friends is, 'yang mai thai' Not dead yet!

Don't try this at home, kids. "yang mai tai" might be the more standard transliteration. the "t" in english here represents the dentalized "t"in Thai which is halfway between our t and d.

I've also heard "glai(f) ja tai" almost dead -- I think.

i like this but want to make sure i'm saying dead correctly. if it ends up sounding like "yang mai dai" (yet cannot) it would really confuse people. so besides making the "t" sound like "dt", what about the tone and the vowel length?

thx steve

Mid tone. (Pronounced as a drone tone (unchanging in pitch) at the middle of your own voice range. ) The vowel length is long.

The spelling in Thai is ตาย .

[siamruby]

"Eat, or not?" Who would you likely say that to? An anorexic person? Someone you're asking out on a date?

But, it ain't my language, either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In Thailand food is a big thing in life just like we alway greet people with the state of the weather in UK such as hello,lovely day isn't it? /cold today/ horrible weather today etc. So in Thailand we say something like, hi have you eaten? or hi what you cook today? because the tradition is if you didn't eat yet the host will then invite you to eat with them.

Another popular one is hi where are you going? ( sawaddee ka ja pai nai ka?). or where have you been? ( pai nai ma ka?) I know it sounds very nosey to farangs, afterall it s non of anyone 's business where you are going or what do you cook or eat but it s just simple a way of greeting.

[bannork]

Going back to the question of mentioning death in Thai company, surely many of you have heard Thai females exclaim, DTAI LAEOW! ตายเเล้ว when they are surprised, even by something as trivial as all the tickets are sold out for the concert,bus,etc. It suggests death is not a taboo subject and indeed I've often been surprised when Thai people have mentioned the death of a loved one in almost a matter of fact way; either the pain is kept private away from public scrutiny and\or perhaps Thais are never really surprised when death happens. Motorbike and road victims lie dead in public view on the roadside and passerbys crane their necks to get a good view ไทยมุง, but they don't seem to be moved or shaken, laughing and chatting a few moments later.

Newspapers and certain magazines are full of gory pictures of murder and accident victims, it seems many Thais are inured to revulsion at premature and grotesque death, at least in others. Perhaps the belief in fate buttresses this view, I have a good Thai friend, a well educated woman in her mid 50s with a high position in TOT, yet every time we talk about some unfortunate and untimely death in the papers she simply says,'it's the time to die!'

bannork.

[Ajarn]

Going back to the question of mentioning death in Thai company, surely many of you have heard Thai females exclaim, DTAI LAEOW! ตายเเล้ว when they are surprised, even by something as trivial as all the tickets are sold out for the concert,bus,etc. It suggests death is not a taboo subject and indeed I've often been surprised when Thai people have mentioned the death of a loved one in almost a matter of fact way; either the pain is kept private away from public scrutiny and\or perhaps Thais are never really surprised when death happens. Motorbike and road victims lie dead in public view on the roadside and passerbys crane their necks to get a good view ไทยมุง, but they don't seem to be moved or shaken, laughing and chatting a few moments later.

Newspapers and certain magazines are full of gory pictures of murder and accident victims, it seems many Thais are inured to revulsion at premature  and grotesque death, at least in others. Perhaps the belief in fate buttresses this view, I have a good Thai friend, a well educated woman in her mid 50s with a high position in TOT, yet every time we talk about some unfortunate and untimely death in the papers she simply says,'it's the time to die!'

bannork.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's these kinds of dichotomies and ironic situations that make living here a challenge to understand at times

[gburns57au]

Laew ru Yang... Have you eaten already, or yang mai kin?

eaten already, or not?

Which would be

Khun gin khao laew rou plao..........

or just Kin Khao rou plao.....

Happy to see that, in fact, old dogs can learn new tricks

And thanks for pointing my ommission of 'yet' in 'not yet'. My brain is certainly faster than my typing

But, I don't think you'll hear "Kin Khao rou plao" much in Thailand as a greeting form...'Leew ru yang' (and ..'ru yang', 'leew yang'' ( or 'yang'...) is a common expression form to use in such situations, rather than 'ru plaaw', in my experience... My own sense as to the reason for that preference is that 'ru yang' works as a positive assumption that eating will happen- if it hasn't happened already. And eating/food is the whole point of making it into a friendly and warm greeting, just like in Chinese......

"Eat, or not?" Who would you likely say that to? An anorexic person? Someone you're asking out on a date?

But, it ain't my language, either.

Not used as a greeting...No, Just going with the flow as SBK used the eat rice phrase earlier....Rou Plao should not be used with another negative in a sentence.....I havent heard of Rou Yang, But I have used Rou Plao with good success....

[Totster]

Laew ru Yang... Have you eaten already, or yang mai kin?

eaten already, or not?

Which would be

Khun gin khao laew rou plao..........

or just Kin Khao rou plao.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Happy to see that, in fact, old dogs can learn new tricks

And thanks for pointing my ommission of 'yet' in 'not yet'. My brain is certainly faster than my typing

But, I don't think you'll hear "Kin Khao rou plao" much in Thailand as a greeting form...'Leew ru yang' (and ..'ru yang', 'leew yang'' ( or 'yang'...) is a common expression form to use in such situations, rather than 'ru plaaw', in my experience... My own sense as to the reason for that preference is that 'ru yang' works as a positive assumption that eating will happen- if it hasn't happened already. And eating/food is the whole point of making it into a friendly and warm greeting, just like in Chinese......

"Eat, or not?" Who would you likely say that to? An anorexic person? Someone you're asking out on a date?

But, it ain't my language, either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not used as a greeting...No, Just going with the flow as SBK used the eat rice phrase earlier....Rou Plao should not be used with another negative in a sentence.....I havent heard of Rou Yang, But I have used Rou Plao with good success....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I found this quite interesting so I asked my GF what she would say...

She confirmed that the way to say it would be - Gin Kao Reu Yang ( mind you when she said "Reu" it sounded "Ree" so I'm assuming it's the same )

totster

[meadish_sweetball]

Laew ru Yang... Have you eaten already, or yang mai kin?

eaten already, or not?

Which would be

Khun gin khao laew rou plao..........

or just Kin Khao rou plao.....

Happy to see that, in fact, old dogs can learn new tricks

And thanks for pointing my ommission of 'yet' in 'not yet'. My brain is certainly faster than my typing

But, I don't think you'll hear "Kin Khao rou plao" much in Thailand as a greeting form...'Leew ru yang' (and ..'ru yang', 'leew yang'' ( or 'yang'...) is a common expression form to use in such situations, rather than 'ru plaaw', in my experience... My own sense as to the reason for that preference is that 'ru yang' works as a positive assumption that eating will happen- if it hasn't happened already. And eating/food is the whole point of making it into a friendly and warm greeting, just like in Chinese......

"Eat, or not?" Who would you likely say that to? An anorexic person? Someone you're asking out on a date?

But, it ain't my language, either.

Not used as a greeting...No, Just going with the flow as SBK used the eat rice phrase earlier....Rou Plao should not be used with another negative in a sentence.....I havent heard of Rou Yang, But I have used Rou Plao with good success....

I found this quite interesting so I asked my GF what she would say...

She confirmed that the way to say it would be - Gin Kao Reu Yang ( mind you when she said "Reu" it sounded "Ree" so I'm assuming it's the same )

totster

Same sound and word, yes.

"Reu plao" is strictly speaking incorrect in that sentence, it should be "reu yang". It is the time aspect that is important. If you ask "(pai) kin khaao (kan) reu plao", it is actually more of an invitation to eat together, not a question of whether you have eaten previously or not yet.

The vowel sound in "reu" has no equivalent in most (any?) varieties of English. I recall hearing somebody argue that a super-exaggerated Australian pronunciation of the word 'school' would produce a similar vowel sound, but I am not entirely convinced.

You produce this sound by saying "oooh" but without rounding your lips (the tongue stays at the same position inside your mouth as in "ooh" though).

One method to get it right is to place a pen or pencil between your teeth, forcing back your lips. You may also force yourself to smile as broadly as you can while saying "oooh" simultaneously. Do NOT purse your lips.

[dugdig]

In Chiangrai it is not proper for an older or higher ranking person to say 'sawadii' first. The younger or lower ranking person should do it first and the older then responds in kind. If an older person want to initiate the greeting process then 'have you eaten yet', 'where are you going', or 'where are you coming from' can all be used for that purpose. If the younger person is eating then the older person can ask 'is it delicious?' as a greeting.

[sbk]

Sorry boys, that was my local joke I guess. I live in the South. Where I live everybody knows everybody else and knows everybody else's business. Most don't ask "How are you?" most ask, "Have you eaten yet?" which is what 'gin khao lao yang' means here. No one says reu. Lao Yang at the end of a sentence makes it a question, not a statement and no one uses the first person pronoun down here.

Southerners like it short and sweet.

[meadish_sweetball]

Sorry boys, that was my local joke I guess. I live in the South. Where I live everybody knows everybody else and knows everybody else's business. Most don't ask "How are you?" most ask, "Have you eaten yet?" which is what 'gin khao lao yang' means here. No one says reu.  Lao Yang at the end of a sentence makes it a question, not a statement and no one uses the first person pronoun down here.

Southerners like it short and sweet. 

The omission of "reu" in "reu yang" is actually pretty common in casual speech all over the country.

[Ajarn]

If the younger person is eating then the older person can ask 'is it delicious?' as a greeting.

Not a good idea to annoy me with inane questions while I'm eating!

[snowleopard]

Southerners like it short and sweet. 

First I thought you were talking about greeting and eating!

[sbk]

Oops! Nope, meant the language, not anything else

One thing I have noticed here, when we are eating and someone comes along the greeting isn't "have you eaten yet?" but rather, "come eat with us". It used to annoy the heck out of me because my husband would do this even if we didn't have enough food to give the other person. But then I realized, it's just polite to ask the other person to join you and the other person (usually!) just as politely declines with a "Gen lao" .

[meadish_sweetball]

Oops! Nope, meant the language, not anything else

One thing I have noticed here, when we are eating and someone comes along the greeting isn't "have you eaten yet?" but rather, "come eat with us". It used to annoy the heck out of me because my husband would do this even if we didn't have enough food to give the other person. But then I realized, it's just polite to ask the other person to join you and the other person (usually!) just as politely declines with a "Gen lao" .

Remember to never ask me that question. I can never say not to good food.