Thais Don't Have A Word For...

[anothertorres]

Kid teung = to think about. it translates perfectly. we just happen to say "i miss you" and they say "i think about you".

kid teung ter jang leree!

[kurnell]

Foreign guest

แขกต่างชาติ khàek tàang châad or แขกต่างประเทศ khàek tàang prathêed

Pity they don't use it

[Rionoir]

Kid teung = to think about. it translates perfectly. we just happen to say "i miss you" and they say "i think about you".

kid teung ter jang leree!

You contradicted yourself in your own post *giggle* I miss you vs. I am thinking about you... that was my point... it's not the really the same, and if you talk to Thai people long enough you'll see that they don't really understand what "I miss you" is. More like, "I'm sad you are not here right now" instead of just "I am thinking about you." You could think about some for a lot of reasons.

Anyway, I know it's used similarly for all intents and purposes... but I've always thought it was interesting. Like when someone who never met me (chatting online or whatever) tells me they are kid theung me. hehe

[anothertorres]

ahh right, i get what you're saying.

[RickBradford]

^^^

No word for "stress", or was that a joke? Thais I know use the word เครียด ('khriat') very freely for that.

[alvin80]

^^^

No word for "stress", or was that a joke? Thais I know use the word เครียด ('khriat') very freely for that.

yes i heard เครียด for stress pretty often too....

[fred2007]

I am not an expert in Thai language but is there a word for drink or drank?

Every time I finish my coffee they ask me "did you eat your coffee'

[kennkate]

Please Is there a Thai word for Please ? My wife tells me there is no word in Thai for Please

[PoorSucker]

ATTENTION PLEASE

I'm a thai and we dont have this word "horny" muahahahahha but only 1 that i can think of ..its slang tho "gnian" (some of thais dont understand) argh any idea? try to ask ur sweetheart about this k? ah or this but too long "chan mee kwam tong karn tang pet" <deleted>? pet haha yes! its mean SEX.

I use "Baa Gaam" ( บ้ากาม ).

[mca]

Isn't ร่าน (raan) used for lust or desire in Thai in a sexual way? Couldn't this also be used for horny?

[mangkorn]

I am not an expert in Thai language but is there a word for drink or drank?

Every time I finish my coffee they ask me "did you eat your coffee'

No, they are not saying "eat your coffee." กิน means "to eat/drink." Liquids are consumed down the throat and into the stomach, just the same as solids; many languages use the same word for both (including espanol).

But if you must, the formal term ดื่ม means to drink liquids. Not being an expert, your pronunciation of สระ อื might not be good enough to make yourself understood. Anyway, Thais rarely say ดื่ม.

[mangkorn]

Please Is there a Thai word for Please ? My wife tells me there is no word in Thai for Please

ขอ is the common word to request something, ("May I have...?") and the "please" is implied.

ช่วย also carries the meaning of "please," when that is what one wishes to say.

Equivalents of the English way of prefacing a request with "please" are กรุณา and โปรด - but both are formal usages.

[sangfroid]

There's not a good translation for the word "Logic" at least not in the way we farang use the word. ตรรก is the closest but IMO it doesn't quite fit. Any thoughts?

[sangfroid]

Please Is there a Thai word for Please ? My wife tells me there is no word in Thai for Please

ช่วย กรุณา or ขอร้อง are used but I agree there is not a word with exactly the same connotation as our "Please"

[eurasianthai]

ATTENTION PLEASE

I'm a thai and we dont have this word "horny"

Right, but you have two words for masturbating, one for the men, one for the women, I guess this compensates for not having the word horny

Edited September 27, 2009 by Farangrakthai

[KKK]

All English can be translated into Thai....but it may take more than one word to do so.

I belive that the originator was more interested in single word translations so:

thirsty = Hiw Naam does not count as it is made from 2 words "hungry+water" There is no single word for thirsty that I'm aware of......

Other one english to two thai words, with no one thai word, that spring to mind are:

bring = aw maa = take+come

mine = kong chan = thing+me

wardrobe = tuu sua paa

[re]fridge[rator] = tuu yen

zebra = maa lai = horse+striped

and I'm sure there are thousands more.....conjoining words to make another word is fairly common in the Thai language as it is in some other languages, german for instance (bra[sier] = busten halter = bust holder) and it is this that to me makes the language so easy to learn. If you don't know the word make it up joining words you do know...you'll be suprised at how often it turns out right.

BTW gnian (horny) applies to men....for women I believe it to be "kun hee" also slang...I'll leave somebody else to translate that....

[mca]

It's great to see so many replies on this thread but as KKK said what I was really looking for were examples where literally no Thai word exists and the best that a dictionary can come up with is a description.

On another of KKKs points joining 2 words together to hazard a guess as to what the Thai word would be has worked for me on several occasions in the past much to my delight and amazement.

Another thing I've noticed is I've become quite adept at guessing that the Thais don't have a word for something so they use the English. I mean above and beyond the usual "strawberry" "tennis" stuff. Unfortunately no examples spring to mind at the moment as my second coffee of the morning hasn't kicked in yet.

[Robroy]

Do they have one for 'logic'?

[sangfroid]

Do they have one for 'logic'?

See post # 43

[featography]

It's great to see so many replies on this thread but as KKK said what I was really looking for were examples where literally no Thai word exists and the best that a dictionary can come up with is a description.

On another of KKKs points joining 2 words together to hazard a guess as to what the Thai word would be has worked for me on several occasions in the past much to my delight and amazement.

Another thing I've noticed is I've become quite adept at guessing that the Thais don't have a word for something so they use the English. I mean above and beyond the usual "strawberry" "tennis" stuff. Unfortunately no examples spring to mind at the moment as my second coffee of the morning hasn't kicked in yet.

I have always called this Thaiglish

[featography]

There doesn't seem to be a Thai word for chocolate.

Choppy

Only an english loan word - but apparently now accepted as Thai language ช็อกโกแลต. Use of loan words is pretty common for things that came to Thailand as English items, the word for pen - ปากกา bparkgar comes from the English - 'Parker Pen' according to my teacher. Even if he is wrong, it makes it easy to remember.

Cheers,

Daewoo

Another thing I've noticed over the past few years is a quite large influx of English words into Thai conversation where there's actually a completely valid Thai word that could be used. "Meeting" as in "business meeting" comes to mind.

Pla Choom is what locals here use for meeting. When sitting around an outside table with the locals that are socializing, if, when a passerby asks me what I am doing, and I respond "Pla choom ta ling" (bull@#$ meeting) all understand and laugh hysterically

[mca]

My point is that quite often Thais will use the English word (as in meeting) instead of the Thai word ประชุม. Do you ever come across that?

[Tawai]

Do they have one for 'logic'?

See post # 43

I would use "giauw gap hetpon" says "related with the reason"

But as post 43 says "in the terms westerners would use it" methinks there is no word and no place for logic in TH

[appleman]

There's no word for 'stress.'

Stress = ความเครียด

thirsty = กระหายน้ำ

not thirsty = ไม่กระหายน้ำ

There is also no English word for not being horny.

[PoorSucker]

There's no word for 'stress.'

Stress = ความเครียด

thirsty = กระหายน้ำ

not thirsty = ไม่กระหายน้ำ

There is also no English word for not being horny.

Dead?

[PoorSucker]

How about skiing?

I have tried "play with snow", but it might not come out right.

[pjclark1]

เอาไหม ao mái* - do you want [it/some]

ไม่เอา mâi ao - no

I was under the impression that the strict definition of "เอา" was "To take with intent"

"เอาไหม" is a question that means literally "Take me?" and will often be used by girls of easy virtue in discos (an alternative to the English "looking for business". Never use "เอา" when talking about a person, only things.

So

"ไม่เอา" means "not take" which may be useful in many situations as a substitute for "no" but not in some instances.

But what do I know?

Edited September 27, 2009 by pjclark1

[mangkorn]

It's great to see so many replies on this thread but as KKK said what I was really looking for were examples where literally no Thai word exists and the best that a dictionary can come up with is a description.

The fallacy posited here is the presumption that a compound word is not a "word."

Pardon me for "eavesdropping" as I use a "keyboard" and "ashtray," but that's a "forehead" scratcher. Perhaps you should "backtrack" and take "another" look at English "yourself" - suffice to read a "newspaper" or listen to a "broadcast" - to "update" that "viewpoint."

Football. Watermelon. Earthquake. Airplane. Railroad. Homemade. Backbone. Daybreak. Nightfall. Somebody. Anybody. Nobody.

"Grandma" took a "cheesecake" and "underwear" to her "deadbeat" "playboy" "grandson" in the "jailhouse" "before" his appearance at the "courthouse" to face "manslaughter" charges for shooting a "bellhop" with a "handgun"....

Compound words are the "lifeblood" of vibrant languages.

Thai-language compound words are no less words than English ones are. Time long overdue to rethink that notion.

Godspeed.

[mangkorn]

There's no word for 'stress.'

A like a few Thai words that don't translate to English.

Numjai and Kengjai.

Naam Jai is "water heart". translates well enough to "good hearted" or even better "water from the heart".

In the term น้ำใจ, น้ำ doesn't mean "water" - it connotes the very essence of what is being addressed: "goodwill, generosity." น้ำมือ means "craftsmanship," not "water from the hands;" น้ำเสียง means "attitude," or "tone of voice;" and the perennial favourite สมน้ำหน้า means you get what you deserve, not "water in your face..." In such cases, the relationship is allegorical, in the sense that liquids are essential to life; a literal translation to "water" falls far short.

[monkfish]

I believe there is no difference in Thai between

Rat and Mouse both are called gnoo so for me something is missing

I like mice but hate RATS!!