Don'T Say 'Same Same'

[saraburioz]

It amazes me how some respectable looking farang guys say 'same same' instead of 'same'.

Don't say it - people will think you've spent all your time in a girly-bar.

[Jingthing]

Me tink same same you.

[richard_smith237]

Here we go again... This thread: 'same same but nid noi different'

[britmaveric]

Same Same but different.... most excellent phrase.

[Jingthing]

Same Same but different.... most excellent phrase.

The first few times, yes.

[473geo]

Like many of the sayings here sounds cute for a while.......but I agree does start to grate a little......especially when written on the forum......

Edited October 10, 2010 by 473geo

[Utterlyuseful]

better to spice it up a bit to get brownie points......same same many many or same same you me too, etcetcetc.....same same alone is just too plain and same by itself is absolutely unthinkable

[andyww]

better to spice it up a bit to get brownie points......same same many many or same same you me too, etcetcetc.....same same alone is just too plain and same by itself is absolutely unthinkable

Ok heres a challenge: Try to use the phrases "same same" and "no have" in the same sentence.

eg: "Can I have what I had yesterday?"

"same same no have"

[Goshawk]

It amazes me how some disrespectable looking farang guys say 'same' instead of 'same same'.

Don't say it - people will think you've never spent any time in a girly-bar.

...it makes you appear respectable

[SergeiY]

Isn't that repetition thing to say it twice born in the Thai grammar and hence not girly bar English but more like common mistake of a Thai who learns English. I am sure you will hear it only in girly bars, if you spend your time only in girly bars.

And there are other languages with a similar "repeat it" rule in the grammar system. So to say 'same' twice, will actually make you only sound like a non-native English speaker and it will be only completely odd for the listener if you are yourself a english native speaker who speaks and understands no other language, only his English. aka plonker. same same.

[flying]

Yeah say meun gun When in Rome

[IanForbes]

Can anyone explain to me why Thais do that? I always found it odd. The mother of the Thai kids I take care of always says "children children" even when sending an e-mail. I get no logical explanation from her, so I just accept it.

[-noodles-]

Can anyone explain to me why Thais do that? I always found it odd. The mother of the Thai kids I take care of always says "children children" even when sending an e-mail. I get no logical explanation from her, so I just accept it.

Probably the same same reason they say cha cha, reo reo, arroy arroy, jing jing, sabai sabai, suay suay, jai yen yen, tuk tuk or ...

[taninthai]

Can anyone explain to me why Thais do that? I always found it odd. The mother of the Thai kids I take care of always says "children children" even when sending an e-mail. I get no logical explanation from her, so I just accept it.

Probably the same same reason they say cha cha, reo reo, arroy arroy, jing jing, sabai sabai, suay suay, jai yen yen, tuk tuk or ...

duem duem

keep telling people what thay can and cant do soon becomes num ram khan...........................

[Scully]

I was invited around for a coffee by the owner of the house we rented, she lived in Bangkok had numerous properties and business dealings.

Her English was a little poor and yes she said same same,never been to a bar probably just picked it up off those idiot farrang that say it.

If I hear a farrang say it I just say you mean the same thing?. However they still look at me like I have three heads.

[bangkokcitylimits]

Also amazing how many farang dudes to a local say 'I telephone you'

Speak Thai or speak English.

Edited October 11, 2010 by bangkokcitylimits

[SergeiY]

Can anyone explain to me why Thais do that? I always found it odd. The mother of the Thai kids I take care of always says "children children" even when sending an e-mail. I get no logical explanation from her, so I just accept it.

Different reasons like to form plural or express emphasis.

The children children example:

In Thai the word for child is "dek", for children is it "dek dek". (the word for child just get repeated)

So the mistake the not perfect English speaking native Thais speaker makes when he want to speak not only of one child but children is it to repeat the word in English. Would be very logical for a Thai speaker.

[Heng]

Not nearly as much of a giveaway than otherwise 'respectable' looking folks who use 'pum puey' out of the blue.

[bangkokcitylimits]

I was invited around for a coffee by the owner of the house we rented, she lived in Bangkok had numerous properties and business dealings.

Her English was a little poor and yes she said same same,never been to a bar probably just picked it up off those idiot farrang that say it.

If I hear a farrang say it I just say you mean the same thing?. However they still look at me like I have three heads.

Strange avatar... I see that there are many variations...

Edited October 11, 2010 by bangkokcitylimits

[SergeiY]

here is a long list of Thai words that get repeated to express a certain meaning.

http://www.thai-language.com/id/132853

For me is it understandable if Thai do the same with some of the English words they have learnt.

My bad non-native English skills are also very determined by my first language, that comes with pretty different grammar and syntax rules.

[angiud]

So, just why in this Anglocentric world the english language doesn't use double words, it is wrong to use it.

For the small I know, Indonesian (Bahasa) use a lot of double words to reinforce the meaning.

Also my first language, Italian, has many double words, mostly in the spoken language: piano piano (slowly) grande grande (very big) etc.

Sabai sabai!

[canuckamuck]

Is this Thai Visa Forum or "don't do this in Thailand forum"

The reason the phrase same same has such longevity is because it is understood nearly 100 percent of the time.

Using the phrase amongst native English speakers will make you seem odd, but among Thais who have only a basic hold of the language you will find that this phrase is very successful.

So if you want to be understood in English, why would you avoid using it? Is it better to speak perfect English and be misunderstood?

Just because the phrase is not used back home that doesn't make it incorrect.

Soup can be hot hot, you can like like a girl, and some things are fun fun fun.

[krading]

yeah yeah

[stander]

Seems to me the OP think too much

[jcbangkok]

I think this thread is very very odd.

Thais have their own language (at least 3 actually) and it seems strange to put them down for using certain practices in their native language when using English. I would wager most folks posting here are not fluent in Thai and if they do attempt to speak Thai they will likely have the sentence structure wrong.

As for English speakers picking up on ThiEnglish .. I don't think it has anything to do with spending too much time in the bars but simply spending a lot of time around Thais who are not fluent in English ... which is the vast majority of them. They only speak English so so because it has many many more rules than the Thai language and Education here is not the best unless you have money.

But I do believe this subject has been covered over and over but we continue to go on and on about it.

Lets just be thankful we don't repeat words in English.

Edited October 11, 2010 by jcbangkok

[StreetCowboy]

As a plonker, can I use "same same" when discussing things with my English colleagues in Dubai?

For the OP:

I think it would be easier if you published your instructions on how to look like like a plonker, <deleted>, tosser etc. in a little booklet, rather than leading by example.

Whenever I want to hide the fact, I try to behave in a courteous and tolerant manner, rather than eschewing lolanglish (that's like Thinglish or Chinglish or Malinglish or Franglais but generalised to an abbreviation of "local language - English)

Comprendez?

SC

[jcbangkok]

Is this Thai Visa Forum or "don't do this in Thailand forum"

The reason the phrase same same has such longevity is because it is understood nearly 100 percent of the time.

Using the phrase amongst native English speakers will make you seem odd, but among Thais who have only a basic hold of the language you will find that this phrase is very successful.

So if you want to be understood in English, why would you avoid using it? Is it better to speak perfect English and be misunderstood?

Just because the phrase is not used back home that doesn't make it incorrect.

Soup can be hot hot, you can like like a girl, and some things are fun fun fun.

Bravo Bravo

[jcbangkok]

As a plonker, can I use "same same" when discussing things with my English colleagues in Dubai?

For the OP:

I think it would be easier if you published your instructions on how to look like like a plonker, <deleted>, tosser etc. in a little booklet, rather than leading by example.

Whenever I want to hide the fact, I try to behave in a courteous and tolerant manner, rather than eschewing lolanglish (that's like Thinglish or Chinglish or Malinglish or Franglais but generalised to an abbreviation of "local language - English)

Comprendez?

SC

Si Si Senior

[rak sa_ngop]

I think this thread is very very odd.

Thais have their own language (at least 3 actually) and it seems strange to put them down for using certain practices in their native language when using English. I would wager most folks posting here are not fluent in Thai and if they do attempt to speak Thai they will likely have the sentence structure wrong.

As for English speakers picking up on ThiEnglish .. I don't think it has anything to do with spending too much time in the bars but simply spending a lot of time around Thais who are not fluent in English ... which is the vast majority of them. They only speak English so so because it has many many more rules than the Thai language and Education here is not the best unless you have money.

But I do believe this subject has been covered over and over but we continue to go on and on about it.

Lets just be thankful we don't repeat words in English.

There'll always be somebody on TV who will poo-poo your argument.

[jcbangkok]

In all seriousness. If the OP is speaking about non-Thais speaking to Thais this way .. then he/she should understand it is for better communication purposes. If this is being said to other non-Thais then it is probably simply a matter of habit.

After speaking to Thais all day, I sometimes find myself speaking to English speakers the same way. Instead of saying something like, "lets not go now because it is too hot" ... I'll end up saying, "No go now, hot"

I can say one thing I like about the Thai language (at least in general speaking) is they don't use a lot of excess words and like to keep the words short.

But in all honesty, I don't hear the word 'same-same" being said all that much. My guess is that they say it twice because they feel a need to recognize both objects being compared. It is a guess but probably not a good one because generally in speaking Thai there is no need to mention the object if it is obvious. But in this case it could be because you have two objects. The Thai language actually has separate words to be added to other words if you want to talk about more than one. In other cases there simply is no plural. If you want to tell somebody they have nice eyes, you would simply say "nice eye" or "eye nice" and the assumption would be you are talking about both and not just the left one ... unless they are missing or have a hideous looking right eye. Yet there is a separate word that you would add to the Thai word for pencil if you were speaking of more than one pencil. Then again there is only one word that covers both "you" and "your"

If you took away all the tones, speaking Thai clearly is much easier to learn than speaking English.

Edited October 11, 2010 by jcbangkok