Forethat Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 My wife's younger brother lost his wallet in a Lotus store just before the birth of his son. Guess what they named him! Son of a bitch....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaccha Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 If there is one thing i've learnt in Thailand, it's never to take for granted that when a Thai says " That's my Brother ", " That's my Sister ", " That's my Aunt " etc etc etc, it generally actually isn't.. I sometimes think that they just say things because they are too lazy to actually explain what the connection with that Person actually is.. My Thai second cousin calls me 'Uncle'. (*by second cousin, I mean my Uncle's wife's sister's granddaughter. Yep.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaccha Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 (edited) [double post] Edited March 19, 2011 by Gaccha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DP25 Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 No no, it's laziness, i'm pretty sure of it.. The words " She's actually a Daughter of a Friend of my Mum's who she used to go to School with " does not translate from Thai >> English as " Sister ", yet it does for some reason & that reason being, i assume, is laziness.. No, in Thai they are constantly calling acquaintances and strangers alike older sibling, younger sibling, uncle, etc. When they say it in English they are just giving a direct translation of what the term of address they use in Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitalbanana Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thai and Farang basically mean the same thing anyway. i.e. ''To be free'' as opposed to slave, vassal, serf etc. So, to be perfectly FRANK, there really is no issue here. Met a friendly Thai chap the other week called Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaParent Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 If there is one thing i've learnt in Thailand, it's never to take for granted that when a Thai says " That's my Brother ", " That's my Sister ", " That's my Aunt " etc etc etc, it generally actually isn't.. I sometimes think that they just say things because they are too lazy to actually explain what the connection with that Person actually is.. iIt's not laziness, just that's how the langauge translates into English. For example children are brothers or sisters if their parents are brothers / sisters, rather than the western definition of cousins. Another example, I'm a grandfather although my own child is only 6 years old and has no children, and it's not an honorific title like 'uncle'. No no, it's laziness, i'm pretty sure of it.. The words " She's actually a Daughter of a Friend of my Mum's who she used to go to School with " does not translate from Thai >> English as " Sister ", yet it does for some reason & that reason being, i assume, is laziness.. I don't believe it when you say that, & not as a direct Thai >> English " Translation, that Thai's believe in their Language, that the Daughter/Son of their Aunt/Uncle ( or would she/he just be classed as an older Sister/Brother ?? ) would actually be their " Sister/Brother " as " Sister/Brother " is perceived to be in Western Cultures & i have had enough conversations about this with Thai's to know that it isn't actually so anyway. Because of the direct blood lineage they consider 1st cousins to be the same as brothers / sisters, otherwise they'd have a word for cousin rather than the generic word 'relative'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 OP, so what's the name of this "breathtakingly beautiful" daughter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanLaew Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 A have a female friend who's surname is "Thai". BTW, she's 100% farang. You know Lucy Thai? Awesome!!! Man, can't believe I missed out on that one!! Not sure if she's 100% Farang though. My mate dated her for the best part of a year. She may well be 100% Asian but her attitude is 100% farang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ableguy Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Later his wife came to pick them all up. She was definitely 100% Thai as was he. But that girl... I did not get it I think Could be second husband or not biolgical father, just a thought not casting aspersions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmax Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 my wife wanted to call our child " spaghetti " i kid you not ! she has a friend and her daughter is called cake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstribling Posted March 19, 2011 Author Share Posted March 19, 2011 Someone asked the girls name. Gaew. I think maybe the dads father might have been farang. Hard to say. Just thought it odd this farang looking girl with two Thai parents. Maybe she was adopted. It is funny about their nicknames though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario299 Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Someone asked the girls name. Gaew. I think maybe the dads father might have been farang. Hard to say. Just thought it odd this farang looking girl with two Thai parents. Maybe she was adopted. It is funny about their nicknames though. My understanding of nicknames is that they mean something attributed at the time of birth...i.e. Noi "little one", Nok "bird", Nam "cool water", so perhaps Gaew is the number 9, which is very lucky in Thailand. Just a guess. mario299 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstribling Posted March 19, 2011 Author Share Posted March 19, 2011 Hmmm that's interesting. Probably true. My wife's daughters nickname is Fill, named after her moms dog, Garfield, who was named after the cartoon cat! Love me some Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stenfred Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Perhaps the mother was asked who the father was, answered "Farang". In comes papa, says "what!?" She tells him that's what everyone keeps calling him behind his back. She was Greng Jai He was Thai, so didn't protest or enquire further and became Farang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remiss Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Son, daughter, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, etc all have extended meaning for thai people and as such when it's translated it's not what we would expect. I've met a lot of each and it twisted my head in the beginning to actually figure out which was real family and not, but in Thailand it doesn't matter as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSingh Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 If there is one thing i've learnt in Thailand, it's never to take for granted that when a Thai says " That's my Brother ", " That's my Sister ", " That's my Aunt " etc etc etc, it generally actually isn't.. I sometimes think that they just say things because they are too lazy to actually explain what the connection with that Person actually is.. iIt's not laziness, just that's how the langauge translates into English. For example children are brothers or sisters if their parents are brothers / sisters, rather than the western definition of cousins. Another example, I'm a grandfather although my own child is only 6 years old and has no children, and it's not an honorific title like 'uncle'. No no, it's laziness, i'm pretty sure of it.. The words " She's actually a Daughter of a Friend of my Mum's who she used to go to School with " does not translate from Thai >> English as " Sister ", yet it does for some reason & that reason being, i assume, is laziness.. I don't believe it when you say that, & not as a direct Thai >> English " Translation, that Thai's believe in their Language, that the Daughter/Son of their Aunt/Uncle ( or would she/he just be classed as an older Sister/Brother ?? ) would actually be their " Sister/Brother " as " Sister/Brother " is perceived to be in Western Cultures & i have had enough conversations about this with Thai's to know that it isn't actually so anyway. Because of the direct blood lineage they consider 1st cousins to be the same as brothers / sisters, otherwise they'd have a word for cousin rather than the generic word 'relative'. So what's this then ?? ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง -lôok pêe lôok nóng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSingh Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Someone asked the girls name. Gaew. I think maybe the dads father might have been farang. Hard to say. Just thought it odd this farang looking girl with two Thai parents. Maybe she was adopted. It is funny about their nicknames though. My understanding of nicknames is that they mean something attributed at the time of birth...i.e. Noi "little one", Nok "bird", Nam "cool water", so perhaps Gaew is the number 9, which is very lucky in Thailand. Just a guess. mario299 In what sense would a Bird be attributed to a time of Birth then ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario299 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Someone asked the girls name. Gaew. I think maybe the dads father might have been farang. Hard to say. Just thought it odd this farang looking girl with two Thai parents. Maybe she was adopted. It is funny about their nicknames though. My understanding of nicknames is that they mean something attributed at the time of birth...i.e. Noi "little one", Nok "bird", Nam "cool water", so perhaps Gaew is the number 9, which is very lucky in Thailand. Just a guess. mario299 In what sense would a Bird be attributed to a time of Birth then ?? Not attributed to a time of birth, but rather at the time of birth.....for example..."oh, my little one", or "oh, my little bird"...something like that...but as I said, just a guess. mario299 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamBolsty Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 A have a female friend who's surname is "Thai". BTW, she's 100% farang. You know Lucy Thai? Awesome!!! Man, can't believe I missed out on that one!! Not sure if she's 100% Farang though. My mate dated her for the best part of a year. She may well be 100% Asian but her attitude is 100% farang! Sorry? Your mate went out with Lucy Thai? Really?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bifftastic Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 (edited) Someone asked the girls name. Gaew. I think maybe the dads father might have been farang. Hard to say. Just thought it odd this farang looking girl with two Thai parents. Maybe she was adopted. It is funny about their nicknames though. My understanding of nicknames is that they mean something attributed at the time of birth...i.e. Noi "little one", Nok "bird", Nam "cool water", so perhaps Gaew is the number 9, which is very lucky in Thailand. Just a guess. mario299 In what sense would a Bird be attributed to a time of Birth then ?? Not attributed to a time of birth, but rather at the time of birth.....for example..."oh, my little one", or "oh, my little bird"...something like that...but as I said, just a guess. mario299 but a good guess nicknames or 'chue len' are given by parents to babies. Quite why calling your kid 'frog' or 'bird' is meant to be cute, I've no idea, but there it is! Lots of Gop's and Nok's out there, also fruit seems to be popular. Geaw is glass or crystal but duang geaw ดวงแก้ว is something like 'beloved' or 'dearest' I think, so maybe that's where it's use as a name comes from. Having said that, there are meanings attached to English names, but once they become used repeatedly over the years, they just become regarded as names and the original meaning's often aren't even thought about. I have to say though, my g/f's sister's boy does look like a frog, in a nice way of course I was reading something, somewhere, that there's a tendency to now use English loan-words for nick names, one example that was given was 'jet-ski' Edited March 21, 2011 by bifftastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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