What Is The Meaning Of This Phrase?

[msb2050]

The phrase is:

จำแทบไม่ได้เลยง๋ามจริงเพื่อนเรา

Thank you

[rgs2001uk]

Cannot remember, really, our friend.

[meadish_sweetball]

It's close but I'd have it down like this:

I almost can't remember, you're so beautiful my friend.

งาม means beautiful, it is used in the North and Isaan and also in the elaborate Central Thai compound 'suay[R]-ngaam[M]'. The added mai cattawa could either indicate a dialectal or an emphatic tone.

The basic meaning of เพื่อนเรา is 'our friend' like rgs2001uk says, but often เรา is also used as a singular personal pronoun. It's possible the person writing thinks of herself or himself as part of a group of friends, in which case rgs2001uk is correct. It's all in the context.

Reads like a Facebook pic comment.

[TheChiefJustice]

I think a literal translation of "เพือนเรา" is probably not needed, actually - and makes it sound a bit awkward in English. It is obviously a FB comment or an SMS or such and I would translate it as " hardly recognize you - [you're] so beautiful."

I think the use of the words "จำแทบไม่ได้" should not refer to "remember" but "recognize" - anyway, that is what the Thais mean.

Edited November 2, 2012 by TheChiefJustice

[Groongthep]

It's close but I'd have it down like this:

I almost can't remember, you're so beautiful my friend.

งาม means beautiful, it is used in the North and Isaan and also in the elaborate Central Thai compound 'suay[R]-ngaam[M]'. The added mai cattawa could either indicate a dialectal or an emphatic tone.

The basic meaning of เพื่อนเรา is 'our friend' like rgs2001uk says, but often เรา is also used as a singular personal pronoun. It's possible the person writing thinks of herself or himself as part of a group of friends, in which case rgs2001uk is correct. It's all in the context.

Reads like a Facebook pic comment.

I agree that to figure out the correct translation msb2050 should have given us the context in which the phrase was used. I was thinking that the mai jattawa would eliminate ง๋าม from being the word for beautiful. Looking at it word for word it is possible that in this phrase แทบ and ง๋ามจริง are people's nickmanes. I know a woman whose nickname is จริง but don't recall ever hearing แทบ being used as one. Nonetheless, if it is the case that they are names, the phrase would mean, "I cannot remember แทบ (taep) at all, ง๋ามจริง is (the one who is) our friend." But without context there is no way of telling.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Groongthep