Thai Sayings and Phrases Wanted

[snowleopard]

It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

Hi Richard,

I enlarged Boon Mee's tone mark on the editing page and then compared it to "mai hanakat"!

It is a "mai toh",so Boon Mee is the winner after all!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[Boon Mee]

It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

Hi Richard,

I enlarged Boon Mee's tone mark on the editing page and then compared it to "mai hanakat"!

It is a "mai toh",so Boon Mee is the winner after all!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

Hi Snowleopard,

I'm starting to memorize where each letter is on the keyboard and it would be a simple mistake to hit the "j" where we find "mai ek" vs. the "h" where lies "mai tho" and "k" - the "mai han aakaat" as they all lay right next to each other.

Anyway, having fun and enjoy all you guys input!

Best,

บุญมี

[RDN]

I see it as a "mai ek" on your post in the thread;but before it's entered as a quote in my preview it's a "mai toh" as you say so I'm pretty sure that you've written it correctly!

Could other Thai readers please tell us if they see a "mai-ek" or a "mai-toh" on เข้าใจ "kaow jai" in Boon Mee's post???

It's definitely not mai ek. It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see mai-toh : เข้าใจ

You can check against the other tone marks:

่ mai eek

้ mai too

๊ mai dtrii

๋ mai jat-dta-waa

...and other symbols:

ั mai han-aa-gaat (is the short vowel 'a': อะ)

็ mai-dtai-kuu (change long vowels เ and เเ into the short vowels)

์ gaa-ran (make syllable silent)

[snowleopard]

I see it as a "mai ek" on your post in the thread;but before it's entered as a quote in my preview it's a "mai toh" as you say so I'm pretty sure that you've written it correctly!

Could other Thai readers please tell us if they see a "mai-ek" or a "mai-toh" on เข้าใจ "kaow jai" in Boon Mee's post???

It's definitely not mai ek. It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see mai-toh : เข้าใจ

You can check against the other tone marks:

่ mai eek

้ mai too

๊ mai dtrii

๋ mai jat-dta-waa

...and other symbols:

ั mai han-aa-gaat (is the short vowel 'a': อะ)

็ mai-dtai-kuu (change long vowels เ and เเ into the short vowels)

์ gaa-ran (make syllable silent)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you missed the point there teacher.

Both I and Richard W know how all the symbols look like!

It was just difficult to see when the letters were enlarged in Boon Mee's post and the word was read quickly!

Your enlargement makes it totally clear.

Snowleopard.

[Boon Mee]

I see it as a "mai ek" on your post in the thread;but before it's entered as a quote in my preview it's a "mai toh" as you say so I'm pretty sure that you've written it correctly!

Could other Thai readers please tell us if they see a "mai-ek" or a "mai-toh" on เข้าใจ "kaow jai" in Boon Mee's post???

It's definitely not mai ek. It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

I see mai-toh : เข้าใจ

You can check against the other tone marks:

่ mai eek

้ mai too

๊ mai dtrii

๋ mai jat-dta-waa

...and other symbols:

ั mai han-aa-gaat (is the short vowel 'a': อะ)

็ mai-dtai-kuu (change long vowels เ and เเ into the short vowels)

์ gaa-ran (make syllable silent)

I think you missed the point there teacher.

Both I and Richard W know how all the symbols look like!

It was just difficult to see when the letters were enlarged in Boon Mee's post and the word was read quickly!

Your enlargement makes it totally clear.

Snowleopard.

Boy! Did my post cause all this?

Sorry fellas!

[RDN]

I think you missed the point there teacher.

Both I and Richard W know how all the symbols look like!

It was just difficult to see when the letters were enlarged in Boon Mee's post and the word was read quickly!

Your enlargement makes it totally clear.

Snowleopard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

เข้าใจ เข้าใจ !

I just wanted people to have a reference if they were unsure which symbol they were looking at - because different fonts/screen resolutions will show these symbols differently.

I know you guys know this stuff inside out!

(And it was good typing practice for me, too!).

[RDN]

Boy!  Did my post cause all this?

Sorry fellas!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ไม่เป็นไร, บุญมี! ไม่เป็นไร

สนุก มากมาก !

[Totster]

Boy!  Did my post cause all this?

Sorry fellas!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ไม่เป็นไร, บุญมี! ไม่เป็นไร

สนุก มากมาก !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He he... all good fun eh...?

totster

[cathyy]

I was talking to a friend about local gossip, and he said that men simply repeat a story, but women "add egg to it." I asked for explanation, and he told me that when you cook, you add egg to something to make it richer. He meant that when women repeat gossip, they embellish it. Sorry I don't know the Thai for it. The conversation was in English, as I'm still Thai-challenged.

[dugdig]

It does look very like mai hanakat at the editing size, but I can discern the difference.

Hi Richard,

I enlarged Boon Mee's tone mark on the editing page and then compared it to "mai hanakat"!

It is a "mai toh",so Boon Mee is the winner after all!

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd like to learn some Thai language here but usually I can't read the Thai text because it is too small. What is this editing page of which you speak? I can read almost all of the Thai letters so my difficulty is not in knowing how they lookit is that they are toooo smalllll!!!!!

[bannork]

There's a nice little book of Thyai proverbs by Dr. Duangtip Somnapan Surintatip available in most (local) bookstores.  It covers many colloqialisms.

One of my fav's learned quickly after marriage is:

Gin nam prik tuay gao

Care for any translations?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

น้ำพริกถ้วยเก่า

Literally, the chilli sauce is in an old cup\small bowl, meaning husband and wife have lived together a long time and it's so boooring....., nothing new, the same old thing; so I suppose the critical question, Lambastard,(what a great name!), is : who is saying this? Is your wife saying this, expressing her opinion, or is she saying it, voicing fears it's how you feel? That's the 64,000dollar question. If she's bored, don't worry Lambastard, I have a neighbour, a strong strapping lass who's currently looking for a falang husband. The dowry is a mere 10,000 baht and she can easily get by on 200 baht a day.Her only drawback is she tends to shout so if you're hard of hearing it would help.

With your best interests at heart,

bannork.

[Richard W]

I'd like to learn some Thai language here but usually I can't read the Thai text because it is too small.  What is this editing page of which you speak? I can read almost all of the Thai letters so my difficulty is not in knowing how they lookit is that they are toooo smalllll!!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

By 'editing page' I mean the page you get when you click on 'reply'.

The best solution to the problem of small size is for posters to use the [ S I Z E ] mark-up. If one forgets to do it one can always edit the post to insert it.

An inconvenient solution to the small size is to select the text and paste it into a Unicode-aware text editor, such as Windows XP Notepad, in which one can easily choose the text size. I don't know what works on Windows 9X or Linux.

[RDN]

.........An inconvenient solution to the small size is to select the text and paste it into a Unicode-aware text editor, such as Windows XP Notepad, in which one can easily choose the text size...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly what I do!

[Boon Mee]

Boy!  Did my post cause all this?

Sorry fellas!

ไม่เป็นไร, บุญมี! ไม่เป็นไร

สนุก มากมาก !

RDN~

Would it be appropriate to place a ๆ following the first มาก or it doesn't matter?

Cheers,

บุญมี

[RDN]

RDN~

Would it be appropriate to place a ๆ following the first  มาก or it doesn't matter?

Cheers,

บุญมี

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmm, a very good point! I will defer to the real experts on this one! I too would like to know when it is appropriate for the mai ya-mok symbol ( ๆ ) to be used! Anyone care to respond?

[BIG SPUDS]

I am learning how to speak thai (slowly)

But have headr so many times that it is easier after you learn the script. Can any one advise my of how to learn it. I have seen web sites and have books but what were your techniques how did you learn what did you do first,

[Boon Mee]

I am learning how to speak thai (slowly)

But have headr so many times that it is easier after you learn the script. Can any one advise my of how to learn it. I have seen web sites and have books but what were your techniques how did you learn what did you do first,

Pick up some books off Amazon - there's loads there and just start slogging thru the lessons. Some courses come with tapes - AUA does and they have and are working OK for me.

Good luck!

[RDN]

I am learning how to speak thai (slowly)

But have headr so many times that it is easier after you learn the script. Can any one advise my of how to learn it. I have seen web sites and have books but what were your techniques how did you learn what did you do first,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I just read your post and immediately thought of a book that I have that contains exercises where you have to write the Thai alphabet using an outline of the Thai letters - printed using a large font and using dotted lines - and the exercise is for the reader to "join up the dots". This is a really good exercise as it teaches you how to write the letters - it shows you where to start with each letter, usually with the "loop" (if there is one), and the direction you must write the letter.

Then I noticed that the author is the same lady who does the best - in my opinion - dictionary, which I recently mentioned on another thread. This lady is Benjawan Poomsan Becker. The book is "Thai For Beginners", 299 Baht, ISBN 1-887521-00-3.

The dictionary is ISBN 1-887521-14-3.

Web sites:

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai

http://www.travlang.com/languages/cgi-bin/...=thai&page=main

http://learningthai.com/

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thai.htm

http://www.thailandguidebook.com/cgi-bin/f...cgi?;act=SF;f=3

[Dickie]

Thai sayings

Know any good ones

Yeah, A farang and his money are soon parted.

[Richard W]

RDN~

Would it be appropriate to place a ๆ following the first  มาก or it doesn't matter?

Cheers,

บุญมี

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmm, a very good point! I will defer to the real experts on this one! I too would like to know when it is appropriate for the mai ya-mok symbol ( ๆ ) to be used! Anyone care to respond?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For what it's worth, I would use the yamok here. If a justification is needed, it's intensification by reduplication. However, I've never seen any rules for when not to use yamok.

[RDN]

...I've never seen any rules for when not to use yamok.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Richard. I've never seen any rules about the yamok, at all! So I think I will use it all the time and see who complains

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

[Totster]

...I've never seen any rules for when not to use yamok.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Richard. I've never seen any rules about the yamok, at all! So I think I will use it all the time and see who complains

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wouldn't บอ่ย ๆ simply mean more often than this บอ่ย

i.e Often meaning once a week บอ่ย

or Often meaning once an hour บอ่ย ๆ

The reduplication places the emphasis on "more" ( best I could think of)

Example..... ( sorry this computer cannot type Thai letters )

glai - near

or

glai glai - very near

This is my understanding of it.... may not be correct..!

totster

[snowleopard]

...I've never seen any rules for when not to use yamok.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Richard. I've never seen any rules about the yamok, at all! So I think I will use it all the time and see who complains

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wouldn't บอ่ย ๆ simply mean more often than this บอ่ย

i.e Often meaning once a week บอ่ย

or Often meaning once an hour บอ่ย ๆ

The reduplication places the emphasis on "more" ( best I could think of)

Example..... ( sorry this computer cannot type Thai letters )

glai - near

or

glai glai - very near

This is my understanding of it.... may not be correct..!

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

Attention please! Both RDN and Totser,

The "mai-ek" tone mark should be on top of บ "bai mai" and not on อ "ang"!

Like this... บ่อยๆ "boi boi"=often.

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[Totster]

...I've never seen any rules for when not to use yamok.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks Richard. I've never seen any rules about the yamok, at all! So I think I will use it all the time and see who complains

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wouldn't บอ่ย ๆ simply mean more often than this บอ่ย

i.e Often meaning once a week บอ่ย

or Often meaning once an hour บอ่ย ๆ

The reduplication places the emphasis on "more" ( best I could think of)

Example..... ( sorry this computer cannot type Thai letters )

glai - near

or

glai glai - very near

This is my understanding of it.... may not be correct..!

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This reminds me of a question I have about "often". I see it in some dictionaries as "boy" บอ่ย and in others as "boy boy" บอ่ย ๆ.

Any thoughts?

Attention please! Both RDN and Totser,

The "mai-ek" tone mark should be on top of บ "bai mai" and not on อ "ang"!

Like this... บ่อยๆ "boi boi"=often.

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry Sir....! It was RDN's fault, I just copied him..!

But was I correct with the reduplication thingy... ?

totster

[RDN]

Sorry Sir....!    It was RDN's fault, I just copied him..! 

But was I correct with the reduplication thingy... ? 

totster 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You little snitch! And I copied it from Wilson minor. So 'som nam naa' Totster!

And Mr. Snowleopard sir, I will now write 100 lines:

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

Often บ่อย. Very often บ่อย ๆ

....

[meadish_sweetball]

I was taught by my Thai teacher to use the reduplication symbol in ALL cases where it is possible to use it to shorten a duplicated message. So if this rule is indeed the official rule (which I am not sure of, though my teacher did definitely know his stuff) it is clear-cut in Boon Mee's case that it should be used.

The cases that make me unsure is where the reduplication refers to more than just the last word. I have seen that quite a few times in Thai texts, but I am not sure if it is recommended usage.

[RDN]

I was taught by my Thai teacher to use the reduplication symbol in ALL cases where it is possible to use it to shorten a duplicated message. So if this rule is indeed the official rule (which I am not sure of, though my teacher did definitely know his stuff) it is clear-cut in Boon Mee's case that it should be used.

The cases that make me unsure is where the reduplication refers to more than just the last word. I have seen that quite a few times in Thai texts, but I am not sure if it is recommended usage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for your input, meadish. Sometimes I see the symbol in sub-titles on UBC, and I try to remember what has been said and what was repeated and what the Thai words are.... but it's all much too quick and my Thai reading skills just aren't up to it! Practice makes perfect...

[Lambastard]

RDN,

It's Benjawan not Benjamin, and she's a woman.

That said, her series Thai for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced etc. is probably the best available on the shelves these days.

She stresses Thai students to break the reliance on transliteration, which is key to understanding correct pronounciation.

Her pocket dictionary is also excellent as it allows lookup in three ways: English, transliterated Thai, and Thai. It's a good tool to help wean one's self off transliteration w/o jumping in head first.

Regards...

[jaidee36]

My favourite at the moment

'Prajamduan maa mai pokadit' - Translate as 'Wrong time of the month love?'

...A good way of irritating a Thai chick. When she stucks sulking ask her if she is on her period. Doesnt improve her mood but makes you feel better.

[meadish_sweetball]

My favourite at the moment

'Prajamduan maa mai pokadit' - Translate as 'Wrong time of the month love?'

...A good way of irritating a Thai chick. When she stucks sulking ask her if she is on her period. Doesnt improve her mood but makes you feel better.

Sorry for being the nitpicker, but your example is not phrased as a question, it is a statement - and the meaning is "(Your) period is irregular".

You need a "ler"/"reu" (really, or) at the end of the statement to make it a question. If you want to add the "love" part as well, you could add "thii rak" either at the beginning or the end.

Most Thais I know use the word "men" (short syll. high tone) when they speak of their menstruation in non-formal contexts.

This is a more faithful translation of your English sentence:

ประจำเดืยนมาเร็วผิดปกติหรือครับที่รัก

pra-jam deuan maa rew phid pokati ler khrap, thii rak

"Did your period come unusually early this month, love?"

low short, mid short, mid long, mid long, mid short, mid low, low-short, low-short, low short, rising long, high short, falling long, high short.