Thai Sayings and Phrases Wanted

[Dr. Seuss]

tum dii dai dii. I'm told this means "what goes around comes around", as she is sitting next to me i am certain it is right.

Very Bhuddist. This life, next life it always comes back to us.

Better take that library book back when i get back to the u.k.

[bannork]

Talking about the story of the brazen theft of Khunying Pojaman's handbag in the Emporium, a Thai said to me ล้วงคองูเห่า which I took to mean as daring to steal or outwit someone with considerable authority or power. Does it differ from หมูไม่กลัวน้ำร้อน in that the pig goes ahead even though the water is hot, he's thickskinned or indifferent to the consequences; whilst with the hand down the cobra's throat the person is unaware it's a cobra and hence their brazenness is unintentional? Who in their right mind would dare put their hand down a cobra's throat? Hence the Thais' assumption the robber must have been a Filipino, no Thai would dare rob Khunying Pojaman.

bannork.

[Ajarn]

tum dii dai dii.  I'm told this means "what goes around comes around", as she is sitting next to me i am certain it is right.

Very Bhuddist.  This life, next life it always comes back to us.

Better take that library book back when i get back to the u.k.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The first part, "tum dii dai dii", literally means, "do good, get good"

Tge second part, "tum chua, dai chua", literally means, do bad, get bad.

And yes, it's the same idea as 'What goes around, comes round' or any of the many variations on that theme...

And it's one of my Mantras

[Jack Jones]

I think chua is a stronger version of bad ie. wicked. Leeo means bad

[Edward B]

จับปลาสองมือ [jab pla sorng meu] (grab fish two hands)

To juggle two girl/boy friends at the same time.

Edited January 10, 2005 by Edward B

[Edward B]

Sorry, that wasn't quite correct. What I said above was an example of the saying. The saying actually refers to wanting or having both of two choices, and the result is that you end up with none. I wonder if it is similar to "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"?

[RDN]

..The saying actually refers to wanting or having both of two choices, and the result is that you end up with none. I wonder if it is similar to "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...or "You can't have your cake and eat it"?

[bannork]

Sorry, that wasn't quite correct. What I said above was an example of the saying. The saying actually refers to wanting or having both of two choices, and the result is that you end up with none. I wonder if it is similar to "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's not the same, 'a bird in the hand....' just means something that you are certain of is much more valuable than something that is potentially yours,(but by no means certain). To want both choices would be 'to have one's cake and want to eat it ', but in this case you end up with at least one choice unlike จับปลาสองมือ

There's the idiom' to fall between 2 stools', but that refers to trying to please both sides and ending up pleasing neither.

Is there an English idiom equivalent to จับปลาสองมือ or a Thai equivalent to 'to have one's cake....'?

On a sad footnote, many years ago a Thai meteorologist warned about the possibility of a tsumani at Phuket but he was criticised for potentially damaging tourism and actually told not to set foot in Phuket by the governor of the time. So now it's a case of วัวหายล้อมคอก 'bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted'

bannork.

PS What has happened to the Snowleopard? There's been no sign lately, has he returned to the chilly climes of his original habitat, or fearing the worst, was he swept away in the southern horror?

Edited January 10, 2005 by bannork

[RDN]

....PS What has happened to the Snowleopard? There's been no sign lately, has he returned to the chilly climes of his original habitat, or fearing the worst, was he  swept away in the southern horror?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't worry - he's posted elsewhere today.

[Ajarn]

I think chua is a stronger version of bad ie. wicked. Leeo means bad

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jack, you are correct with layo, but chua is also often used and translated as 'bad', too. Many kinds of bad, na' ?

เลว laayo

adjective: bad, inferior, worthless

ชั่ว chuaa

adjective: bad, evil, wicked

Also...

กา gaa

adjective: evil, bad, small

ร้าย raay

adjective: bad, very bad, fierce, cruel, harm, evil, wild

[bannork]

I saw a useful phrase yesterday though the story was tragic. A bargirl working in Phuket arranged her wedding to a Dutchman, booking a restaurant for the party, only to see the restaurant and her deposit swept away in the tsunami. Her friends teased her, the tsunami was an omen ---- รอเก้อ . Lo and behold a few days later the boyfriend phoned, asking her to delay the wedding by 6 months, quoting the Dutch authorities as advising Dutch nationals to avoid the area for 6 months due to fear of disease. In fact the girl was from Udon and had arranged to go there after the wedding to meet the folks. Anyway after the call she shot herself dead.

รอเก้อ means to wait in vain.

bannork

[RDN]

I saw a useful phrase yesterday though the story was tragic. A bargirl working in Phuket arranged her wedding to a Dutchman, booking a restaurant for the party, only to see the restaurant and her deposit swept away in the tsunami. Her friends teased her, the tsunami was an omen ---- รอเก้อ . Lo and behold a few days later the boyfriend phoned, asking her to delay the wedding by 6 months, quoting the Dutch authorities as advising Dutch nationals to avoid the area for 6 months due to fear of disease. In fact the girl was from Udon and had arranged to go there after the wedding to meet the folks. Anyway after the call she shot herself dead.

รอเก้อ means to wait in vain.

bannork

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What's Thai for "People can be very cruel" ?

[bannork]

I saw a useful phrase yesterday though the story was tragic. A bargirl working in Phuket arranged her wedding to a Dutchman, booking a restaurant for the party, only to see the restaurant and her deposit swept away in the tsunami. Her friends teased her, the tsunami was an omen ---- รอเก้อ . Lo and behold a few days later the boyfriend phoned, asking her to delay the wedding by 6 months, quoting the Dutch authorities as advising Dutch nationals to avoid the area for 6 months due to fear of disease. In fact the girl was from Udon and had arranged to go there after the wedding to meet the folks. Anyway after the call she shot herself dead.

รอเก้อ means to wait in vain.

bannork

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What's Thai for "People can be very cruel" ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

คนส่วนมากใจดำ

มนุษย์ส่วนมากใจดำ

There was a very useful idiom in The Bangkok Post business section today-

เหยียบขี้ไก่ไม่ฝ่อ meaning spoilt and pampered as a child, ie rich kid with servants, does nothing him\herself, so no backbone, unable to face up to challenges or hardship later in life; but when this idiom is taken apart word for word it seems to contradict itself because ใจฝ่อ means scared, afraid , so word for word we seem to get,' stepping in chicken droppings, not afraid'

Another meaning ofฝ่อ is dry,withered so we get stepping in wet or moist chicken droppings, I'm still dazed and confused! Perhaps Firefoxx can shed some light.

bannork

Edited January 17, 2005 by bannork

[RDN]

...

There was a very useful idiom in The Bangkok Post business section today-

เหยียบขี้ไก่ไม่ฝ่อ meaning spoilt and pampered as a child, ie rich kid with servants, does nothing him\herself, so no backbone, unable to face up to challenges or hardship later in life; but when this idiom is taken apart word for word it seems to contradict itself because ใจฝ่อ means scared, afraid , so word for word we seem to get,' stepping in chicken droppings, not afraid'

Another meaning ofฝ่อ is dry,withered so we get stepping in wet or moist chicken droppings, I'm still dazed and confused! Perhaps Firefoxx can shed some light.

bannork

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it means "can't even break chicken sh1t" - tried to get my g/f to explain, and that was the nearest we could get to an English equivalent!

[bannork]

บัวใต้น้ำ meaning negative in every way, both thought and action. But why the lotus underwater? It's beautiful on the surface, perhaps it's just shy underwater.

[bina]

bannork, what are u refering to?? sorry cant read non transliterated thai.... the lotus one?

and also the word transliterated for 'wait in vain' (madame butterfly syndrome-- from the opera of the same name)

[bannork]

bannork, what are u refering to?? sorry cant read non transliterated thai.... the lotus one?

and also the word transliterated for 'wait in vain'  (madame butterfly syndrome-- from the opera of the same name)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

bua dtai nam บัวใต้น้ำ literally means the lotus under water, it comes from The Lord Buddha's teachings where he compared the level of an individual's development to the level of a lotus in the water.

The blooming lotus above the water, receiving sunlight is someone who has reached their full potential, they understand right thinking and perform right actions.

The lotus just on the surface has potential to reach full understanding but still needs some more work to reach perfection.

The lotus just below the surface can see the sunlight so has the potential to reach understanding but needs more improvement than level 2.

But the lotus under the water, down amongst the mud and weeds, can see no light. This person has no potential, they're lazy, stubborn, dull and have no future, factory fodder in English slang.

So this phrase is strong, if I remember rightly you run a farm in Israel with Issan workers and a few months ago you were looking for an Issan -English dictionary to communicate with your workers.Why don't you learn to read and write Thai because if you can't speak Issan then you can at least communicate with them writing Thai ?

The word for wait in vain is raw ker or khoi ker รอเก้อ คอยเก้อ, the k is the hard sound and the vowel is falling tone.

The unfortunate Thai worker who was shot on the Gaza strip came from Nong Han, 40 kilos from where I live .There's many Thai workers from Udon Thani province in Israel. If you've got any vacancies don't hesitate to email me, I can guarantee some reliable and hardworking employees!

Yours, bannork.

[bina]

hi bannork,

thanks for taking the time to explain....i like the allegory of the lotus , very accurate

i speak issan (with a nonghkai flaovor apparently) but cannot manage to teach myself reading or writing as i've harped about on many an occassion on this forum...

i started w/ a thai/eng/thai trans dict by benjawan and thats how i spoke the first year.... now i dont really need the dict. for every day events, just special problems...and my vocab is increasing but am ordering that issan/thai dict from white lotus

sorry to hear about the guy from nonghan ( i was there last year in february in nong han and surounding villages) (where exactly are u?)

i am not a 'manpower' company; these guys arrive thru one of those horrible companies and then get placed... once they are on a particular kibbutz or moshav, and the employer likes the worker, the worker gets 're-invited' back to the same place when its time to renew visas etc.... unlike the migrant workers in america (have thai friend working there also) in many places here, relationships are built up and then these guys can ask if a brother/uncle etc can also come when someone else leaves.....but also, workers can ask to move to other locale if he has problems with 'baal habeit' (employer).... have friend from ban chiang khom (half hour from udon).... we can't hire individually because of the visa thing so these manpower companies make a fortune off the issan workers

OFF SUBJECT BUT TO ANYONE INTERESTED:

btw if you noticed on the visa section, romio was asking about visas for learning etc.... i spoke to him for two hours yesterday (he's in tel aviv but going to thailand wednesday).

he is looking to live in villages long term; not cities but rural...i had told him about the whole issan area and where i had been, he doesnt want bed and breakfast or hotels but 'the real thing' .kind of ecotourism or whatever... .. if you know of anyone or anywhere (i think he's willing to pay or help out or something) send addresses to him /or me in next day. ....his website is not wonderful but his intentions are good, english also not wonderful (speaks swahili and russian and hebrew) i gave him an address in ban chiang as a starter maybe bannork you know of somehwere?? (he speaks three words of thai with russian accent )

[bannork]

Dear Bina,

Thanks for your reply, it's a shame the companies sting the workers, 50,000 to 150,000 baht for a work permit, it's criminal. Regarding your Thai bound friend, perhaps he should learn some Thai or Issan before heading to the sticks.

Sayings for today- ก้างขวางคอ kang khwang khor (falling tone on the kang, rising on the khwang), meaning literally, a fishbone stuck in the throat, as an idiom meaning something or someone is in the way, obstructing one's progress.

ท่าอิดออด tar id ord (falling tone on the tar, low on the following 2 syllables), meaning half-hearted, for example เเสดงที่ท่าอิดออด look half-hearted.

bannork

[bannork]

As the election looms near this phrase is prevalent in the Thai press จัดฉาก jad chaak, literally to arrange the scene, in other words, to frame someone.

bannork

[bannork]

A good idiom in the Nation yesterday จุดใต้ตำตอ -jood dtai dtam dtor,meaning to commit a faux-pas, to make a social blunder; your friend shows you a photo and you make a comment about the underdressed ladyboy standing next to your friend .' That's my wife', he replies.

bannork.

Edited February 8, 2005 by bannork

[chao choo]

I like .....mai long mai ruu !!

Never try never know !! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

could anyone please write this in thai, i really like it

[Edward B]

mai long mai ruu

ไม่ลองไม่รู้

Here's one I learnt today:

(glong) khao noi khaa mair

(กล่อง)ข้าวน้อย ฆ่าแม่

Anyone heard of this one before?

[bannork]

mai long mai ruu

ไม่ลองไม่รู้

Here's one I learnt today:

(glong) khao noi khaa mair

(กล่อง)ข้าวน้อย ฆ่าแม่

Anyone heard of this one before?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seems to be well known, the son comes home from work, tired and hungry, but mother's prepared little food so in his rage he kills her.

But as to a wider meaning, I'm not sure, does it mean in times of deprivation anything can happen? Or does it mean parents should take good care of their offspring?

In times of need where are Sabaijai and Firefoxx?

bannork

[bannork]

mai long mai ruu

ไม่ลองไม่รู้

Here's one I learnt today:

(glong) khao noi khaa mair

(กล่อง)ข้าวน้อย ฆ่าแม่

Anyone heard of this one before?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seems to be well known, the son comes home from work, tired and hungry, but mother's prepared little food so in his rage he kills her.

But as to a wider meaning, I'm not sure, does it mean in times of deprivation anything can happen? Or does it mean parents should take good care of their offspring?

In times of need where are Sabaijai and Firefoxx?

bannork

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apparently it's from Yasothon province and there's a memorial in remembrance of his mother built by the son.

After ploughing the fields, feeling very hungry, the son killed his mother because he thought the food she had brought was not enough.

But after eating the food she had prepared he felt full, perhaps the rice had 'settled' on the way, there was more than he had thought; he realised that the way we see things can be swayed by our emotions, needs or desires.

For example, after 2 alcohol- free election days, a Leo beer looks more attractive than usual.

bannork.

[RDN]

....feeling very hungry, the son killed his mother because he thought the food she had brought was not enough. ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The son sounds like my g/f. Hope I don't end up like the mother

[Boon Mee]

Heard this one recently but I can't remember right off what it means:

ทนมือ ทนตีน Ton Muu Ton Tdeen

I gather it's not too polite either as the slang word for feet is never polite.

Cheers,

บุญมี

[bannork]

Heard this one recently but I can't remember right off what it means:

ทนมือ ทนตีน  Ton Muu Ton Tdeen

I gather it's not too polite either as the slang word for feet is never polite.

Cheers,

บุญมี

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It means you can tolerate anything, it's good in that you can endure heat, hard work, etc, but is it good if you endure exploitation, cheating employees, faithless women, bus drivers that refuse to stop, et al?

A good idiom in the paper today, ขี้เเพ้ชวนตี khi pair chuan dtee, to be a bad loser, to pass the blame when you lose, but why 'sheepshit invites you to fight?'

bannork

Edited February 15, 2005 by bannork

[snowleopard]

Heard this one recently but I can't remember right off what it means:

ทนมือ ทนตีน  Ton Muu Ton Tdeen

I gather it's not too polite either as the slang word for feet is never polite.

Cheers,

บุญมี

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It means you can tolerate anything, it's good in that you can endure heat, hard work, etc, but is it good if you endure exploitation, cheating employees, faithless women, bus drivers that refuse to stop, et al?

A good idiom in the paper today, ขี้เเพ้ชวนตี khi pair chuan dtee, to be a bad loser, to pass the blame when you lose, but why 'sheepshit invites you to fight?'

bannork

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A good idiom in the paper today, ขี้เเพ้ชวนตี khi pair chuan dtee

but why 'sheepshit invites you to fight?'

No crap involved in that idiom Bannork,so please cut yours out,won't you?

ขี้ "kee" is used as a front element with a verb,an adjective or even a noun to make an adjective or verb which gives the meaning "inclined to,"prone to" and even "addicted to"!

For example ขี้ล้อ= a teaser and ขี้เป้=inferior.

เเพ้ "paee"=lose

แพะ "pae"=goat

Cheers,

Snowleopard

Edited February 15, 2005 by snowleopard

[RDN]

Heard this one recently but I can't remember right off what it means:

ทนมือ ทนตีน  Ton Muu Ton Tdeen

I gather it's not too polite either as the slang word for feet is never polite.

Cheers,

บุญมี

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How about these two - also foot related:

ไป ไกล ไกล ตีน !

bpai glai glai dteen

I believe this is also extremely impolite and means "Get away from me" (Literally "Go a long way from my feet"

เดี๋ยว ถีบ เลย !

dĭeow tèep loie

- "I will kick your ass" (literally "In a moment I will push you away with my foot, completely" ).