Help With Translation In A Strange Context Please

[ELLHNAS]

I would like to know the meaning of the following sentence in the context of the ability of a person to conceive! Literally the following sentence talks about food however it can take a whole different meaning in a different context. Does anyone know the meaning of it in the context of a person being or not being able to conceive? Is it some kind of slang? Does it have a positive, neutral or negative connotation? The following Thai sentence refered to a man and followed a comment about a couple that cannot conceive. I know this is a strange question but I heard it from someone and I am curious about it

แฟนไม่มีน้ำยา มีแต่ขนมจีน

Edited September 16, 2012 by ELLHNAS

[katana]

I did find a page where a Thai asked what that meant, after someone had used that phrase with them ขนมจีนไม่มีน้ำยา (lit. Thai rice flour noodles without the spicy sauce).

It was explained that it meant you didn't know how to, or weren't capable of doing something, usually used in the context of a man's failure in bedroom matters with his partner. Just as the noodles need the sauce to taste good and are uninteresting and tasteless on their own, so his bedroom manner was dull and unexciting, presumably meaning they didn't sleep together very often. [The way it was worded, wasn't sure if impotence played a part, maybe a native Thai speaker can elucidate further].

http://guru.google.c...3bd8e7d30937ac9

Edited September 16, 2012 by katana

[bdw]

It can mean either

1. He doesn't have the desire to make love often

2. He doesn't have the seed

and in this case I'd say it implies both.

[kriswillems]

It's a kind of word joke.

น้ำยา is the sauce you eat with ขนมจีน (chinese rice noodles) in the dish ขนมจีนน้ำยา

In fact น้ำยา can be any liquid which has a special/important function (herbal liquid, medicine, the freon in an airco, cleaning liquid).

น้ำยา in sex similarly also refers to a liquid: sperm.

Normally you would say only ไม่มีน้ำยา" when a guy is not very good in bed or when he's not able to produce offspring (เป็นมัน - to be sterile).

In a much broader context you could translate น้ำยา as talent or ability. So, you can say ไม่มีน้ำยา เรียนไม่ได้เรื่อง (he has no talent, he doesn't understand anything of what he studies)

The word น้ำยา and ขนมจีน often go together. So saying ไม่มีน้ำยา มีแต่ขนมจีน (he doesn't have sauce, he only has noodles) is a word game / language joke and it just means ไม่มีน้ำยา - he has no "ability" (mostly used in a sexual context).

Edited September 17, 2012 by kriswillems

[AyG]

ขนมจีน (chinese rice noodles)

Slightly off topic, but despite the presence of จีน in the name, ขนมจีน are not Chinese, they're originally Mon. In the Mon language the name means "to cook twice".

[anchan42]

It means he is shooting blank and can't get his wife pregnent.