Thai Words Used In English

[Jingthing]

There are hundreds if not thousands of English words incorporated now into the Thai language. But that isn't the question, is it?

Oh NO !!! my mistake..there were English that use in Thai.

Mai bpen rai

(that one should be universal)

[lodesafun]

Thai words in "English"? Well "Eng" means "myself". That's all I can think of. [boom boom]

[sassienie]

Good thread this, very interesting.

I doubt whether there is even one word in the Thai vocabulary, pronounced the same in English that means the same in English or in any other language outside the borders of Thailand’s neighbours.

I’ve rack my brains with this one and I can’t come up with anything, not even any similarities in words.

Ah just a minute, a brain storm. What about the Thai word for mother and Father.

Thai: mother: Mae, English: Mar.

Thai: father: Por, English: par

Edited February 12, 2009 by sassienie

[polecat]

Does "farang" count? It may not be used outside of Thailand, but...

[bkkjames]

Good thread this, very interesting.

I doubt whether there is even one word in the Thai vocabulary, pronounced the same in English that means the same in English or in any other language outside the borders of Thailand’s neighbours.

I’ve rack my brains with this one and I can’t come up with anything, not even any similarities in words.

Ah just a minute, a brain storm. What about the Thai word for mother and Father.

Thai: mother: Mae, English: Mar.

Thai: father: Por, English: par

Durian sounds the same in Thai and English to me mate

[5tash]

Durian sounds the same in Thai and English to me mate

Malaysian?

[polecat]

Durian sounds the same in Thai and English to me mate

Malaysian?

No, she went of her own free will.

Oops, sorry. Wrong punchline.

[davyboy]

siksak ... I'm not sure it's a thai word, but that's what my wife says when she sees a drunk on the street (besides the word Maao)

Now, my english is what i've learned from TV, so spare me on this one okay.

zigzag is the way most of the drunks walk right ? So maybe it's an english word used by Thai ...

zig-zag? My wife says he/she walks like a snake!!

[5tash]

My wife says he/she walks like a snake!!

Your not sure of the gender of your wife!

[Ritti]

I think

Gun- ga - as in grass

Sa- rong - worn around the waist, southern thailand i think

Ap-pon - Joking Thai way of saying apple

[5tash]

Gun- ga - as in grass .... comes from the Hindi word "ganjha".

Sa- rong - Malaysian.

Ap-pon - is an English word.

[davyboy]

siksak ... I'm not sure it's a thai word, but that's what my wife says when she sees a drunk on the street (besides the word Maao)

Now, my english is what i've learned from TV, so spare me on this one okay.

zigzag is the way most of the drunks walk right ? So maybe it's an english word used by Thai ...

zig-zag? My wife says he/she walks like a snake!!

Hmm! I wasn't talking about my wife, I was talking about people like you.

Hmm!

[lawling]

Does anyone know of any Thai words that are in general use in the English Language???

My parents and grandparents, who spoke Ulster Scots dialect, used to use a word or words sounding like "nig-noy" for something 'trivial' or 'nit-picking.' I have no idea where it came from and, of course, it wasn't used in everyday English. But I have often wondered if there was any link with "nit noy."

[SmugFarangBore]

Does anyone know of any Thai words that are in general use in the English Language???

My parents and grandparents, who spoke Ulster Scots dialect, used to use a word or words sounding like "nig-noy" for something 'trivial' or 'nit-picking.' I have no idea where it came from and, of course, it wasn't used in everyday English. But I have often wondered if there was any link with "nit noy."

Not a chance.

More likely from Scots or Gaelic.

[true blue]

Does anyone know of any Thai words that are in general use in the English Language???

jip

[toybits]

Thai for Teacher = Khru

Philippine word for Teacher = Guro

Hindu word for Teacher = Guru

[toybits]

Thai Word for Water Buffalo = Krabue

Malay word for Water Buffalo = karbaw

Philippine word for Water Buffalo = karabaw (carabao)

[PST]

Love you long time.

fuc_ky sucky.

PST.

[KED]

Considering Thailand's political instability perhaps "coup"

[mittheimp]

someone said Tuk Tuk.. this seems an interesting one. Is it a thai word originally (cheap cheap???).. if so it seems to be universally used to describe that kind of vehicle.

[Birdman]

someone said Tuk Tuk.. this seems an interesting one. Is it a thai word originally (cheap cheap???).. if so it seems to be universally used to describe that kind of vehicle.

thuuk = cheap - ถูก

tuk tuk = tuk tuk - ตุ๊ก - the name comes from the noise of it.

[t.s]

Does anyone know of any Thai words that are in general use in the English Language???

i hear the word "yet" often.

[Schillaci]

boom boom

[Tinkelbell]

How about this ? 'Fire' = Fi (in Thai)

I once had a Thai friend, her family name was 'Sri-ve-lai' sounded similar to 'civilize'. Amazing since her family were 100% Thai for generations

[markg]

There arent many Thai words that have been incorporated into English.

Words get incorporated into another language for lots of complex reasons. A couple of reasons are "what is the 'thing' universally known as" and also the influence the originating country has on other countries.

For example, English words like 'restaurant' stem from France due to France being particularly powerful when the word came into common use.

Thailand hasnt invented much as far as i know, so the names of new stuff dont tend to be Thai adopted into English.

The only two i can think of are Muay Thai and Mai Thai for the name of the Thai martial arts and the cocktail.

The list of English words being used in Thai are far more extensive. Remote, Aircon, VDO, Taxi, computer, motorcy (sic) etc.

The poster that said he thought his gran was speaking Thai when asking for a cup of tea. The English use of the word 'chaa' comes from India (though its actually pronounced more like Chai) , when it used to be British India. Other words include veranda, pajama, jodhpurs, khazi (used for toilet) etc.

[toybits]

shock-ab - shockabsorber

[wyzelli]

gun chaa = marijuana

Used as slang for Marijuana in Australia but pronounced as 'gunja'

[Ricardo]

atm ?

[bonobo]

I like this thread.

So it seems that we have "muay thai" and "mai thai" and not much else.  And even these are suspect, in my opinion, as they are describing Thai things, albeit things that have a somewhat universal appeal.

In the US, many people understand a number of Thai food dishes and use them while at a Thai restaurant, but that is people speaking actual Thai, not using words in the normal lexicon.

"Ganja" is Sanskrit and "tuk tuk" originates from India as well (also, tuk tuk is not commonally used, as far as I know, in other countries. It certainly is not used in the US.)

"Thai stick" is used as a descriptive, as is "Siamese cat."  Neither of these two are used in spoken Thai.

[pilgrim2505]

Does anyone know of any Thai words that are in general use in the English Language???

Money rarley if ever needs no translation.

Taxi was a good one.

Bangkok

cd

dvd

dop

Edited February 15, 2009 by pilgrim2505