Big Pimpin'

[bhoydy]

I just went on my bike to buy some washing-up liquid (exciting times), as i was coming back there was a guy cycling up the soi, veering from left to right maybe drunk with a young girl on his lap. When i finally got a chance to pass him he saw me and shouted what i think was ผรั่งแมงดา. Now i know this means pimp but was wondering if it's offensive or if he was just playing. I stopped my bike and asked him what he just said, but he just started saying hello farang. Any ideas?

[mikenyork]

I don't think it can be taken as anything but an insult. Sorry. Now, by your account the guy was drunk, so I guess I wouldn't take it very seriously. แมงดา is a male rice beetle, incapable of flight and therefore dependent on female rice beetles for moving from place to place. It doesn't mean "pimp" in the American sense of the word, which would imply that the pimp was in charge of and controlling of the lady of the evening in question. In my experience, even in Thailand, money talks, bullsh.t walks, and if the woman is bringing in the bread, she exercises considerable control in the relationship. There may be Thai girls being "run" by pimps, but I have never personally known any. (Of course there are brothels where the girls are virtual prisoners, but I'm not talking about brothels but about bar girls broadly defined) . One other thing about แมงดา --it is used as the flavoring in a particularly evil smelling น้ำพริก.

[hiero]

ฝรั่งแม่งตา maybe? watch the £*&! where you are going white boy

[rgs2001uk]

ฝรั่งแม่งตา maybe? watch the £*&! where you are going white boy

Sounds more plausible, given the scene.

[bhoydy]

Yeah, could have been either but probably the 2nd. Funny that it was him that was all over the road shouting that. I waited to see where he went and he went in to my neighbour's house who i play football with sometimes. I know that house, full of unsavoury language.

[hiero]

Usually a tell-tale sign of something not entirely pleasant is a stranger referring to you directly as farang, even thought the word is not bad it's not generally polite in anyway to use it directly especially with people you don't know.

[Murf]

I hate the word Farang.

It particularly goads me when someone calls me "Farang" even when they know my name.

แม่งตา is a new one for the dictionary :jap:

[hiero]

I wouldn't add that to the dictionary, it's a pretty loose translation that I kinda guessed mate, i'd be chuffed it was right though.

Kinda goes without saying but don't แม่ง it up around town :)

Edited June 29, 2010 by hiero

[klons]

I wouldn't add that to the dictionary, it's a pretty loose translation that I kinda guessed mate, i'd be chuffed it was right though.

Kinda goes without saying but don't แม่ง it up around town :)

แม่งตา is one of Beckers entries in the Speak like a Thai volumes. I don't want to look for it because the entries are in no particular order. The example used as I remember was - khao bpen แม่งตา koom sawng - translated as - he's a pimp guarding the brothel.

[bhoydy]

Oh well, i guess that's what i get for laughing at nickmanchester2 and his halitosis in another thread.

[Tod Daniels]

I have also heard that term used in the foreign frequented nefarious-nite-life areas. It is usually spoken by female employees when talking about another working girls worthless as tits on a bull (in)significant male thai other.

They are the kind which drop her off to work at 7PM and then does nothing but sit at home, gambling, drinking, and hanging out with his friends, all the while his girlfriend is busy bringing in the baht.

So the meaning is pretty close to the actual insect as far as relying on the female of the species for the necessities of life; in this case money. It is my experience that it is a totally disparaging remark, (however in the circumstances I have witnessed it being spoken; it's usually taken without any rancor whatsoever by the receiving party).

As an aside; I do find it mind wobbling that the thais seem to have the ingrained ability to ignore something which they don't see with their own eyes, or don't want to acknowledge as true; hence the term ไม่เห็นไม่รู้ or if I don't see it, I don't know about it. ..

I wouldn't take something like that (even if said tongue-in-cheek) off a thai I didn't know without calling them on it immediately. It was humorous to read of his sudden about-face when you questioned him about it.

I try to follow the words of wisdom from Gene $immon$ of the rock band KISS;

"Don't take shit off anyone, EVER!"

It's a good adage which has never failed me.

[hiero]

I wouldn't add that to the dictionary, it's a pretty loose translation that I kinda guessed mate, i'd be chuffed it was right though.

Kinda goes without saying but don't แม่ง it up around town :)

แม่งตา is one of Beckers entries in the Speak like a Thai volumes. I don't want to look for it because the entries are in no particular order. The example used as I remember was - khao bpen แม่งตา koom sawng - translated as - he's a pimp guarding the brothel.

fwiw I think you mean แมงดา, i really doubt แม่ง would have been in 'speak like a thai', would be funny though if it was.

[Groongthep]

Agree with tod-daniels. I have heard the word แมงดา used to describe a low-life male who controls women through fear and threat of violence. More often than not this type of guy is usually also described as a จิ๊กโก๋ which means something like hooligan, thug or tough-guy.

Edited June 30, 2010 by Groongthep

[klons]

I wouldn't add that to the dictionary, it's a pretty loose translation that I kinda guessed mate, i'd be chuffed it was right though.

Kinda goes without saying but don't แม่ง it up around town :)

แม่งตา is one of Beckers entries in the Speak like a Thai volumes. I don't want to look for it because the entries are in no particular order. The example used as I remember was - khao bpen แม่งตา koom sawng - translated as - he's a pimp guarding the brothel.

fwiw I think you mean แมงดา, i really doubt แม่ง would have been in 'speak like a thai', would be funny though if it was.

Please excuse me, I’m a sloppy poster and copied the wrong word from the thread. I think the counterpart to be used by drunks on ladies passing by on bikes would be:

ไก่แก่แม่ปลาช่อน (bar mama-san)

old chicken, mother of snakehead fish

source:Becker

[Johpa]

One other thing about แมงดา --it is used as the flavoring in a particularly evil smelling น้ำพริก.

Good Sir, your biological description of the species is quite accurate as well as the metaphorical usage in Thai, however I daresay the cuisinary outburst is uncalled for and rather inaccurate as the food mentioned is considered by some, including myself, quite tasty and not in any manner evil smelling.

As to the OP, you were insulted, but do yourself a favor and never, ever confront a drunk Thai over his/her words. Just keep on truckin.

[Peppy]

never, ever confront a drunk Thai over his/her words.  Just keep on truckin.

Brings to mind the Thai proverb อย่าถือคนบ้า อย่าว่าคนเมา (yah teu khon bah yah wah khon mao) "Don't take offense at lunatics, don't scold drunks"--if somebody's nuts, just let them be.

Oh, and I'd take the "Thai" part out of the above quote; confronting  drunks, whatever their nationality, rarely leads to a positive outcome. 

[bhoydy]

Thanks for you your concern people, i may have asked him what he said but there was nothing confrontational about it. I just stopped the bike and said, อะไรนะ พูดอะไรเมื่อกี้. I wasn't sure what he said and he was clearly talking to me that's why i stopped to ask. I didn't say he was drunk but he may have been, it was in a small, unlit soi and i was coming behind him and there was another bike coming towards him, so he may have just been blinded by all the headlights. Anyway, i would tend to go with tod daniels on the don't take shit off anyone but i would change ever to unless you're outnumbered.

[anchan42]

Agree with tod-daniels. I have heard the word แมงดา used to describe a low-life male who controls women through fear and threat of violence. More often than not this type of guy is usually also described as a จิ๊กโก๋ which means something like hooligan, thug or tough-guy.

จิ๊กโก๋ is from gigolo?

[anchan42]

One other thing about แมงดา --it is used as the flavoring in a particularly evil smelling น้ำพริก.

Good Sir, your biological description of the species is quite accurate as well as the metaphorical usage in Thai, however I daresay the cuisinary outburst is uncalled for and rather inaccurate as the food mentioned is considered by some, including myself, quite tasty and not in any manner evil smelling.

As to the OP, you were insulted, but do yourself a favor and never, ever confront a drunk Thai over his/her words. Just keep on truckin.

Hmmm. I thought แมงดา was a species of cockroach but bigger in size and stronger in smell. I do like it though especially ไข่แมงดาย่าง which pretty much หากินยาก.

[Peppy]

<IMG src="http://www.fishpondinfo.com/giantwaterbug.jpg"><IMG src="http://learners.in.th/file/sonson2009/DSCN3385.jpg">

[mangkorn]

แมงดา can be used to describe a man who lives off the labours of a woman/women. It can be a slovenly boyfriend/husband, a pimp, or sometimes a gigolo.

This usage derived from the observation of the male แมงดา which, after mating, remains atop the female (seemingly sleeping it off) while she busies herself with the important tasks of finding and preparing a nest for the imminent offspring. One interpretation is that the male appears lazy, allowing her to do all the work, hence the idiom vis-a-vis certain men.

[AjarnPasa]

One other thing about แมงดา --it is used as the flavoring in a particularly evil smelling น้ำพริก.

Good Sir, your biological description of the species is quite accurate as well as the metaphorical usage in Thai, however I daresay the cuisinary outburst is uncalled for and rather inaccurate as the food mentioned is considered by some, including myself, quite tasty and not in any manner evil smelling.

As to the OP, you were insulted, but do yourself a favor and never, ever confront a drunk Thai over his/her words. Just keep on truckin.

A friend of mine was walking past a group of motorcycle taxi drivers one day. One of them waved at him with a beaming smile and called out "หัวควย" assuming that he didn't understand and would do what most Johnny Farangs do and smile back with a happy สวัสดี.

Not so my friend, who replied with an equally cheerful หังผ่อมึง to the raucous laughter of the motorcycle driver's friends.

He then just kept on truckin'

[SimonN]

หังผ่อมึง

Do you mean "หัวพ่อ"?

[bannork]

หังผ่อมึง

Do you mean "หัวพ่อ"?

lol, presumably the ภาษา of the อาจารย์ isn't Thai!

[AjarnPasa]

หังผ่อมึง

Do you mean "หัวพ่อ"?

lol, presumably the ภาษา of the อาจารย์ isn't Thai!

busted! I'm putting those two down to typos: ว and ง are devilishly close to one another on the keyboard. the ผ/พ is, sadly, all my own doing - please don't judge me

Edited July 7, 2010 by AjarnPasa

[Luukhin]

I think he said ฝรั่งแม่งตาม 'a foreigner is riding behind me.'