Cutting Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face

[rak sa_ngop]

"Cutting off your nose to spite your face" is a common English expression which describes the action of getting revenge on somebody but which actually causes (more) harm to yourself.

How can you express this in Thai?

[DavidHouston]

ทุบหม้อข้าวตัวเอง

[Tod Daniels]

It took me a while, but I also found this one on thai-language dot com.

ตายประชดป่าช้า (dtaai^M bpra^L choht^H bpaa^L chaa^H)

thai language dot com

They have the literal meaning as; "to die just to spite the cemetery", and use the american idiom of "cut off one's nose to spite one's face" as the definition.

In reading the RID definition of the idiom I think it would lend credence this phrase carries the connotation of doing something against another party, only to have yourself become the party who suffers the most from the action.

FWIW: Here's the RID definition of the phrase;

ตายประชดป่าช้า /ตาย-ปฺระ-ชด-ป่า-ช้า/

[กริยา] (การใช้: สำนวน) แกล้งทำหรือพูดแดกดันประชดอีกฝ่ายหนึ่ง แต่ตัวเองกลับเป็นฝ่ายเสียหายจากการทำหรือพูดนั้น.

I am in no way discounting David Houston's post ! Plugging his phrase into thai-language dot com yields the same meaning, (just no accompanying RID definition of the text).

thai language dot com

Sadly, I have no idea which phrase is more colloquially spoken or would be understood by thais easier.

(Apologies for making the thai font big; otherwise I can't read it . I have also found bigger font often helps people learning to read thai )

[rak sa_ngop]

ทุบหม้อข้าวตัวเอง

Yes, great, this creates the image to me of somebody smashing up the cooking pot out of spite and consequently not being able to eat himself.

[ChAoS87]

sorry guys, since this thread is about idioms, sorry for being abit off-topic. Does anyone knows 'Let nature take its course' kind of idioms/proverbs? thanks...

[bhoydy]

I picked these two up from thai-language.com, i think they have a similar English meaning but i don't know if it'll fit what you're looking for.

ระยะทางพิสูจน์ม้า กาลเวลาพิสูจน์คน

raH yaH thaangM phiH suutL maaH gaanM waehM laaM phiH suutL khohnM

"Time will tell."

หนทางพิสูจน์ม้า กาลเวลาพิสูจน์คน

hohnR thaangM phiH suutL maaH gaanM waehM laaM phiH suutL khohnM

"Time will tell."

[anchan42]

ปล่อยไปตามบุญตามกรรม

[Peppy]

I picked these two up from thai-language.com, i think they have a similar English meaning but i don't know if it'll fit what you're looking for.

ระยะทางพิสูจน์ม้า กาลเวลาพิสูจน์คน

raH yaH thaangM phiH suutL maaH gaanM waehM laaM phiH suutL khohnM

"Time will tell."

หนทางพิสูจน์ม้า กาลเวลาพิสูจน์คน

hohnR thaangM phiH suutL maaH gaanM waehM laaM phiH suutL khohnM

"Time will tell."

I don't think these are quite the same as "Let nature take its course"; they're more like, "Time proves a person's character".

Anchan's suggestion, ปล่อยไปตามบุญตามกรรม bploi bpai dtahm boon dtahm gum, fits perfectly. "Let go to (the forces of) merit and karma".

[bannork]

ทุบหม้อข้าวตัวเอง

I first came across this phrase when the writer was describing,I believe King Naresuan, on the eve of a battle ordering his men to smash their own rice pots so they had no turning back, they'd be nothing to eat, so victory was the only option!