The Thai (informal) word for "hippy" seems to be "kuy" (kaw kai/sara oo/ yaw yak) and mae thoa. Does anyone know the origin of this word "kuy" ?

The Royal Institute's "Dictionary of New Words" contains the following entry on page 12:

"กุ๊ย น. คนไม่สุภาพไร้มารยาท, คนต่ำช้า, เช่น หมอนั้นมันกุ๊ยชัด (จ. กุ้ย ว่า ผี)."

"กุ๊ย noun. an impolite person; a person without manners; a base or immoral person. Sample: 'That fellow is really uncouth'." (my attempt at translation)

What do you think. Is this the term you are hearning?

The Royal Institute's "Dictionary of New Words" contains the following entry on page 12:

"กุ๊ย น. คนไม่สุภาพไร้มารยาท, คนต่ำช้า, เช่น หมอนั้นมันกุ๊ยชัด (จ. กุ้ย ว่า ผี)."

"กุ๊ย noun. an impolite person; a person without manners; a base or immoral person. Sample: 'That fellow is really uncouth'." (my attempt at translation)

What do you think. Is this the term you are hearning?

Guess what กุ๊ย น. คนเลว, คนโซ. (จ. กุ๊ย ว่า ผี) from the 2525 edition of RID! A little closer to a hippy? โซ ว. อดอยากยากจน but most hippies only looked starving. Just in case the op cannot see it; chinese for ghost.

I am glad I don't have the new book what on earth does กุ๊ยซัด mean?

Not answering your question, but I've often heard บุปผาชน (flower people) for hippies. The English word is also used as a loanword.

ps. For those who might enjoy it, here is an article describing a case against ม.ร.ว.คึกฤทธิ์ ปราโมช, who was found guilty of libelling American ambassador Bishop in a 1957 column by referring to him as กุ๊ยมะริกัน, an American กุ๊ย.

http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?...d=&catid=02

Thank you for the answers. Actually I was especially interested if the word "kuy" has his origins from a foreign/English word. Does anyone know ? Or does it originate from China, like one poster wrote ?

Thank you for the answers. Actually I was especially interested if the word "kuy" has his origins from a foreign/English word. Does anyone know ? Or does it originate from China, like one poster wrote ?

Two posters have found the word shown in Royal Institute publications with the Chinese word 鬼 (guǐ in Mandarin Chinese) as its source. Unless you know that someone has specifically been researching this word and found another source, I think it's a safe bet to assume that the Royal Institute is correct.

Edited December 1, 200916 yr by aanon

Okay, thanks !

Thank you for the answers. Actually I was especially interested if the word "kuy" has his origins from a foreign/English word. Does anyone know ? Or does it originate from China, like one poster wrote ?

I have a feeling it's Chinese, if for no other reason than that it uses the mai trii (not tho, as far as anyone's found yet). A lot of imported one-syllable Chinese words have the mai trii. Lexitron has it as

กุ๊ย [N] tramp; hobo; bum; vagrant

Def. คนเลว, คนโซ

Sample:ฟุตบอลเป็นกีฬาที่คนใจแคบหลายคนมองว่าเป็นกีฬาสำหรับ 'กุ๊ย' Football is a sport that a lot of narrow-minded people think is for bums.

Interestingly, while the English here is bum, vagrant, etc., the Thai definition could be translated as "bad person, hungry person."

So Sethaputra has

กุ๊ย n. adj.a member of the underworld, a hobo, a tramp, a bum, a beggar

I think by "underworld" he doesn't mean "mafia!" Probably means more like "low-class." During the time hippies were all over in the States, I noticed the general attitude of the Chinese community there was that hippies were nothing more than low-class bums, so this looks right to me. Of course, the loan word ฮิปปี้ is understood by everybody, this is the only one I've heard used.

Thank you for the answers. Actually I was especially interested if the word "kuy" has his origins from a foreign/English word. Does anyone know ? Or does it originate from China, like one poster wrote ?

I have a feeling it's Chinese, if for no other reason than that it uses the mai trii (not tho, as far as anyone's found yet). A lot of imported one-syllable Chinese words have the mai trii.

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ลามก๊ก the Three Kingdoms, a famous book from China