Would there be an explanations as to why น่าชัง is part of this word?

น่ารักน่าชัง

• [ADJ] cute; pretty; lovely S.น่ารัก, น่ารักน่าเอ็นดู, น่าเอ็นดู A.น่าเกลียด, ขี้ริ้วขี้เหร่, ขี้เหร่ Ex. เขาพาลูกชายหน้าตาน่ารักน่าชังไปเดินอวดผู้คนในสวนทุกวัน

• [V] be cute; be pretty; be attractive; be lovely S.น่ารัก, น่ารักน่าเอ็นดู, น่าเอ็นดู A.น่าเกลียด, ขี้ริ้วขี้เหร่, ขี้เหร่ Ex. ลูกสาวของเขากำลังน่ารักน่าชังขึ้นทุกวัน

• (NECTEC Lexitron 2 TH-EN)

could it mean 'so cute they are detestable'? Sickeningly cute.

Just a guess.

"คำคช้องจอง" by ชัยรัตน์ วงศ์เกียรติ์ขจร on page 158 has the following entries:

น่าเกลียดน่าชัง ว. (สำ) น่ารักน่าเอ็ญดู (ใช้แก่เด็กๆ)

น่ารักน่าชม ว. น่าเอ็นดู

น่ารักน่าชัง ว. น่าเอ็นดู

While this doesn't explain the origin, it does show that there are variations on the same theme.

Bui, however, understood. She said that if you praise a child to its parents as being lovely and cute, the fates may turn against the child. Saying the kid is ugly, however, may cause the fates to look favorably on the child. Old wives tales.

น่าเกลียดน่าชัง "Ugly little git, isn't he?"

As David alludes to above, this phrase is used with babies instead of "Aw, he's so cute" as protection against ill-willed spirits, since everybody knows that ghosts would rather haunt a cute baby than an ugly one. Most people still say it just out of tradition (the way we say "Bless you" when somebody sneezes lest the Devil sneak up their nose on the exhale) but more superstitious parents will actually be offended if you tell them their baby is cute--it's like you're wishing a curse on them.

Along with variations like น่ารักน่าชัง, the phrase is meant to be taken literally only by ghosts, not by humans; people understand it to be the same as น่ารัก.

Edited May 29, 201016 yr by Peppy

the origin is superstitious, and its seen in many thai movies...some of the older stories say its bad like to say how cute a baby is--thats why they say "Na Chung"

Thanks for the replies. Just to be safe, I think I will refrain from referring to anyones baby as น่าเกลียดน่าชัง.

Just to be safe, I think I will refrain from referring to anyones baby as น่าเกลียดน่าชัง.

But it's what you're supposed to say--just like you say "Bless you!" when somebody sneezes. Don't worry about causing any offence with this one; as I said earlier, you're more likely to cause a kerfluffle by saying the kid's cute.

Some families call their babies ไอ้หมาน้อย just to avoid devil spirit knowing that there is a baby in the family.

Isann people call baby boy บักหำน้อย. It means small penis. Not sure why.

Some believe that saying the baby is heavy will stop them from growing so such comments should be avoided.

Sometimes babies smile and laugh randomly. It looks as if their were playing with someone. Some say they are playing with แม่ซื้อ, baby protecting spirit.

A good example of people saying the opposite of what they mean for superstitious reasons in English is the phrase "Break a leg!" From Wikipedia (emphasis mine):

"Break a leg" is a well-known idiom in theatre which means "good luck." It is typically said to actors and musicians before they go out onto stage to perform.

The expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which

wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck

. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use.

There's probably examples of this kind of thing in lots of languages...