จรจัด

[rak sa_ngop]

I was listening to VOA News in Thai yesterday Wed 25th March and there was an item on the effects of the recession in Japan, soup kitchens, people losing jobs etc.

One word they used repeatedly to describe these people sounded to me like คน จะ ระ จัด or maybe จอ ระ จัด

The only words that I can find close to this is จรจัด ( vagrant, tramp) but this is pronounced จอน จัด (according to my dictionary) or maybe จรจรัล pronounced จอ ระ จัน (to wander)

Maybe my ears are playing tricks on me and the word is based on ชรา (old, aged).

Anybody have any ideas on what the word might be??

[Rikker]

That's probably the right word, but perhaps the people were mispronouncing it. According to RID (the standard) it's [จอน-จัด]. I'd guess it's hypercorrection on the part of the radio announcer.