Thai Sayings and Phrases Wanted

[champa]

จับปูใส่กระด้ง

 

[2HughTaylor]

Can you say 'Cup' as a short 'hello' (like hi) and as a short 'thank you', and 'please', 'you're welcome'...?

[mouse999]

gin naam dai sok  

[bannork]

On 9/14/2016 at 4:04 AM, mouse999 said:

gin naam dai sok  

กินน้ำใต้ศอก to drink water under the elbow, meaning having to accept you're second fiddle, ie a mistress not the wife.I read the origin comes from someone drinking water with cupped hands whilst a second person too thirsty to wait gulps the water running off the elbows of the first person! 

[tifino]

On 8/27/2016 at 3:59 PM, 2HughTaylor said:

Can you say 'Cup' as a short 'hello' (like hi) and as a short 'thank you', and 'please', 'you're welcome'...?

 

I always just 'cup' for saying thanks.

 

there's a lot of Thai television celebrities/presenters, who whilst paid a lot, seem only to ever say Khrup. Ka, or Na khrap,

 

although you won't often hear Na Ka (hope someone from Queensland doesn't try to say it, due to their accent!)

 

The Khrup/Ka are simple (lazy) ways for someone to agree with what's just been said to them.

 

 

The highly paid Show Hosts etc, get away with those so-few terms, for use in answering cr responding to everything said by other presenters

 

[Damrongsak]

On 9/15/2016 at 6:27 AM, bannork said:

กินน้ำใต้ศอก to drink water under the elbow, meaning having to accept you're second fiddle, ie a mistress not the wife.I read the origin comes from someone drinking water with cupped hands whilst a second person too thirsty to wait gulps the water running off the elbows of the first person! 

 Sort of like we say "sucking hind tit" in rural USA?

[bannork]

On 10/19/2016 at 2:05 AM, Damrongsak said:

 Sort of like we say "sucking hind tit" in rural USA?

i wouldn't know about that Damrongsak as am jus a country boy from little ole UK but it sure sounds right. 

always a bridesmaid , never the bride is another phrase that comes to mind. Always taking a submissive or second place.

Here's a different one หน้าม้า literally the face of a horse, meaning a rented crowd/audience as in a game show where the audience is paid and told when to clap, react etc.

It can also mean like a decoy but that may not be the correct word, hopefully someone will come along and provide it-  as in a situation where one member of a cheating card gang pretends to be an innocent outsider playing .The gang let him win,  witless others see and join in, thinking they can imitate the winner, of course they lose all their money.

[bannork]

The UK post Brexit. Friendless and weak  หัวเดียวกระเทียมลีบ 

ลีบ means withered, blighted, atrophied so all you have is a garlic bulb with atrophied, blighted cloves. 

It's worthless and alone. Without company or friends for support you are weak and vulnerable.

In a similar vein- คนเดียวหัวหาย สองคนเพื่อนตาย สามคนกลับบ้านได้

 

[Airalee]

Not sure if this is the right place to pose this question, but is there any sort of Thai saying/translation for "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"?

 

The reason I ask is that I have heard from so many Thai friends who want to move to the USA and work as they all believe that the streets are paved with gold and that life will be easy for them there.

[onthesoi]

3 hours ago, Airalee said:

Not sure if this is the right place to pose this question, but is there any sort of Thai saying/translation for "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"?

 

The reason I ask is that I have heard from so many Thai friends who want to move to the USA and work as they all believe that the streets are paved with gold and that life will be easy for them there.

 

อย่าเห็นขี้ดีกว่าไส้

yaa hen khee dee gwaa sai

 

[Airalee]

19 hours ago, onthesoi said:

 

อย่าเห็นขี้ดีกว่าไส้

yaa hen khee dee gwaa sai

 

Cool...thanks!

[Damrongsak]

On 2/5/2017 at 3:42 PM, onthesoi said:

 

อย่าเห็นขี้ดีกว่าไส้

yaa hen khee dee gwaa sai

 

Took me a minute to understand that one. 

[bannork]

To stick to one's story, to deny an accusation, to insist one has not done anything wrong-(ยืน) กระต่ายขาเดียว (ปฎิเสธ)

I'm not sure what a one-legged or a standing on one-leg-rabbit has got to do with it.

[roulax]

On 2/6/2017 at 0:11 AM, Airalee said:

Not sure if this is the right place to pose this question, but is there any sort of Thai saying/translation for "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"?

 

The reason I ask is that I have heard from so many Thai friends who want to move to the USA and work as they all believe that the streets are paved with gold and that life will be easy for them there.

you can also say: คนในอยากออก คนนอกอยากเข้า ( kon nai yaak ohk kon nok yaak krao) which  literally means " the one who's inside wants to get out. The one outside wants to get in"

[mouse999]

เกี่ยวแฝกมุงป่า    

[DavidHouston]

18 hours ago, mouse999 said:

เกี่ยวแฝกมุงป่า    

Thank you, Mouse, for this saying. Please provide us a bit more understanding of the meaning and usage of this phrase. 

[bannork]

David, I hope you do not mind me butting in one this. The meaning as you probably know means to tackle something beyond one’s ability or to try to do something without thinking first if it is possible.

The link below gives 2 examples, the second one recommending  the guy works out first how many rai of grass ( 1000) he has to cut to make the thatched roof alone.

Think before you try to do something, consider the potential problems, be realistic, seems to be the theme. Can you think of an English equivalent- look before you leap?

http://www.xn--m3cv1ac5bny.net/เกี่ยวแฝกมุงป่า/

[tgeezer]

Bannork, I have been studying this one for several days and came to the conclusion that It was “they had bitten off more than they can chew.
The definition says แรงสามารถ would you agree that it means physical ability? Literally, “collecting enough thatch to put a roof over the forest” is impossible for one man.
In the case of a chap pushing his car back along mountain roads he has clearly bitten off more than he can chew.
Before undertaking a task make a good estimate of your ability to do it, You would be biting off more than you can chew if you try to cultivate 1000 rai of land single handed.

I agree that “look before you leap” is one interpretation of “ก่อนจะทำอะไรหัดประเมิณ ฯ “ but that part just provides a context doesn’t it?


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[bannork]

I think you are right, the moral is to think before we do something but for the man trying to cut the grass for the thatched roof it is too late, he has already bitten off more than he can chew!

 

[bannork]

สร้างเนื้อสร้างตัว-  make a life for oneself/ make a living/ to establish oneself

This was from a sad story of a mother hiring her nephew to kill her own son because she could not take any longer  his violence, regularly beating up both her and his stepfather, his threats, destruction of the family assets and even the sale of the family rubber plantation and mortgaging the family home to pay for his drug habit.

The actual sentence is as follows:

หลังจากสามีเก่าเสียชีวิตไปเมื่อ 20ปีก่อน จึงมาอยู่กินกับนายประทีป สามีคนปัจจุบัน และได้ร่วมกันทำงานอย่างขยันขันแข็งจนสร้างเนื้อสร้างตัว  ทำให้ครอบครัวมีฐานะดีขึ้นตามลำดับ

[bannork]

มนุษย์ป้า - pushy grannies or middle aged ladies  are back in the news again. Here is a list of their typical characteristics:

 1. มนุษย์ป้าคือผู้ถูกต้องเสมอ 
2.มนุษย์ป้ามักจะขอแซงคิว แทรกคิว โดยอ้างความอาวุโสและปัญหาสุขภาพ เช่น ป้าแก่แล้วให้ป้าก่อนเถอะ 
3.ชื่นชอบของแจกฟรี หยิบได้เท่าไหร่ ขนได้เท่าไหร่ ขอเอากลับบ้านให้หมด จะเป็นขยะในตอนหลังก็ช่างมัน 
4.ทำทุกอย่างเพื่อประโยชน์สูงสุดของตัวเองไม่ยอมให้ใครมาเอาเปรียบ หากโดนเอาเปรียบจะโวยวายทันที 
5.เวลานั่งรถตู้โดยสารสาธารณะชอบนั่งตรงเบาะใกล้ประตู คนที่ขึ้นที่หลังก็ต้องเบียดเข้าไป 
6.ยืนขวางตรงทางเข้าประตูรถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส และต้องยืนเป็นคนแรกที่หนึ่งเสมอด้วย

[digbeth]

I've never seen เกี่ยวแฝกมุงป่า used in the wild before

quite interesting that there's a similar idiom of 

ตำน้ำพริกละลายแม่น้ำ 

though the acts are similarly futile, the gist of the น้ำพริก's idiom is on the pointlessness of the act, rather than biting off more than one can chew

[tgeezer]

That's good isn't it? I have never encountered มนุษย์ used that way before . What way is that? I hear you ask and that is what I don't know and thought might be worth some research. Longdo actually has it originating on the internet in the year 2557! The zenith of selfish behaviour it seemed was to get into a taxi with a 'fare' stopped at the lights to share for as long as it was going where they wanted to go.


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[bannork]

That’s a great idea about sharing the taxi from red traffic lights to as far along the road as one is going. The taxi could increase the fare rate by a quarter say, which the second passenger pays,

A win-win situation as they say.

BTW what is a win-win situation in Thai?

[greatwhitenorth]

 

หัวข้อนี้สำหรับการแสดงไม่ชอบ

[tgeezer]

That’s a great idea about sharing the taxi from red traffic lights to as far along the road as one is going. The taxi could increase the fare rate by a quarter say, which the second passenger pays,
A win-win situation as they say.
BTW what is a win-win situation in Thai?

If มนุษย์ป้า paid up she wouldn't be a มนุษย์ป้า .
I am not sure what a 'win win situation' is.



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[digbeth]

มนุษย์เงินเดือน col. salarymen

 

มนุษย์แม่ this is used in similar context to มนุษย์ป้า where a mother/parent acts out selfishly in interest of their child

[tgeezer]

I am coming to the conclusion that มนุษย์ is employed instead of คน because ป้า แม่ are being used as adjectives and คน needs a real adjective คนดี or an unambiguous noun คนเมือง. In English perhaps we might say ‘typical granny’ typical mother’ if we wanted to catagorise a behaviour.

 

 

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[bannork]

การเล่นว่าว ตึงมากก็ขาด หย่อนมาก ก็ร่วง  A Thai friend was talking about relationships  and comparing it to flying a kite. Pull it too tight and the string breaks, slacken it too much and the kite falls. In other words give each other some slack in a relationship but if you give too much you might lose that person.

ตึงให้ผ่อน หย่อนให้ดึง” สร้างชีวิตรักให้มีความสุข

Relax the tension, tighten up when loose for a happy married life!

http://sanooklifes.blogspot.com/2013/08/blog-post_7841.html

[tgeezer]

That is a very good saying for this forum I think. I like the blogspot, I haven’t had time to read the other topics yet but I am sure that I shall find plenty to interest me, so thank you for posting bannork.



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