How Do You Say Selfish In Thai?

[withnail]

I was having an imaginary Thai conversation in my head today (a common but unfortunate side effect of studying the language) and I realised I didn't know the Thai word for selfish.

I looked in my Oxford River Books dictionary and it came up with เห็นแก่ตัว and I was wondering if it could be used in exactly the same way as the English word or if there were other expressions Thai people might use.

Please could someone give some examples.

withnail

[Rikker]

This is a pretty strong claim to make against someone in Thai, from my experience, but I can't exactly explain why I have that impression. Perhaps it's simply cultural.. Thais ไม่ถือ calling someone fat or dark-skinned to their face, but if you tell them they're selfish, คนไทยถึอ.

Anyhow, เห็นแก่ตัว and เอาแต่ใจตนเอง (or เอาแต่ใจตัวเอง) are common.

เขาเป็นคนเอาแต่ใจตนเอง He's a selfish person

เขาเป็นคนเห็นแก่ตัวมาก He's a very selfish person.

I believe that in Thai this is different from the idea of conceit or self-centeredness, though. For that I've heard หลงตัวเอง, which basically means "in love with oneself."

Edited March 16, 2006 by Rikker

[Boon Mee]

'Hen get tooa' is the one I'm most familiar with.

[p_brownstone]

Depending on the context you may also use มุ่งแต่ตัวเอง - which translates more as "self-centered" rather than "selfish"

Patrick

[withnail]

Thanks.

What about if I wanted to say he only thinks about himself. What would be the best way to say that?

[yoot]

What about if I wanted to say he only thinks about himself. What would be the best way to say that?

He only thinks about himself. - เขาคิดถึงแต่ตัวเองเท่านั้น (concerned only with his own self)

He never thinks about others. - เขาไม่เคยคิดถึงคนอื่น(never considers about others' feelings.)

เห็นแก่ตัว - selfish

เอาแต่ใจตัวเอง -self-centred

[withnail]

Thanks yoot I think those would be more appropriate.

[robitusson]

Gonna put this here to avoid starting a new thread. How do say "You look .................." eg: "You look tired", "You look happy"? Is there an equivalent expression in Thai?

[meadish_sweetball]

The easiest way to say it is just to add 'doo' (look; watch) before the word.

doo khaeng-raeng dii (You look strong (healthy))

Thaa thaang khaeng-raeng dii (You appear to be strong)

doo (meuan ja) (to look as if...)

thaa thaang meuan fon ja yoot / doo meuan fon ja yoot. (It looks as if the rain will seize)

You look tired: khun doo neuay jang (khun thaa thaang neuay jang)

You may replace neuay with "mod raeng" or "phlee-a" (both meaning exhausted, 'phlee-a' a little stronger).

You look happy: thaa thaang mii khwaam sook (but be aware that this can also be construed as 'You look like you've got lucky.' in the sexual sense)

Still no Thai fonts, sorry.

[Jack Jones]

You can also use 'doo muan gap (waa)' for 'You look like....'

[p_brownstone]

A phrase middle class Thai's will often use amongst themselves is ขายปลา - which obviously translates literally as "sell fish" , it's well understood as an amusing, semi serious observation and not nearly so confrontational as เห็นแก่ตัว .

Patrick

[Kathe]

เห็นแก่ตัว .......งก...........มักมาก.......

Hehn gae Tua.......ngog.......mhak maak......all these words can be used Selfish. Only selfcentered. You might get hurt if you talk these words openly with someone. It's allowed to talk as gossip.

Edited March 19, 2006 by Saothai

[Rikker]

งก means selfish specifically with respect to money, a harsher synonym of ขี้เหนียว

มักมาก is more like greedy or covetous, literally "wants much."

But yeah, thematically related.

[bannork]

งก means selfish specifically with respect to money, a harsher synonym of ขี้เหนียว

มักมาก is more like greedy or covetous, literally "wants much."

But yeah, thematically related.

I would define งก as 'grasping' in English, I once insisted on payment for a student who had cancelled an English lesson without warning, it wasn't the first time -or the last; but I'd prepared the lesson and already had the miserly sum in my pocket mentally. The school owner called me งก but in my view the reverse was true!

Edited March 21, 2006 by bannork

[Rikker]

Yeah, งก can work both ways... he called you งก because you insisted on money they didn't think you should get, but you could just as easily call them งก for not wanting to pay for something you had already agreed upon.

ขี้งก is also used with the same meaning, except more habitually so.

[phibunmike]

thaa thaang meuan fon ja yoot / doo meuan fon ja yoot. (It looks as if the rain will seize)

Meadish >> as I know you are a linguist, and not EFL, I hope you will appreciate me pointing out a small error in your English - you meant "cease" (to stop), not "seize" (to grasp).

Mike

[meadish_sweetball]

Cheers Mike. I do appreciate it, although I should have seen the mistake myself.

[Boon Mee]

Cheers Mike. I do appreciate it, although I should have seen the mistake myself.

Well, 'Rain' - the thread, has siezed hold of some folks attention 'round here.

[thatguy]

how's kee nieow, shit sticky

more stingy, skinflint,

tg

[superG]

self centred - kam neung teung don eng

can someone tell me what lukleauh means in thai - i think its something bad, probably slang but i never managed to get a translation off anyone???

cheers

[superG]

oooh - does anyone know how to say

'we had no chemistry' in thai

as in if you go out with someone and theres just no chemistry??

bit of a longshot but i wondered if they have an equivalent term?

x g x

[Neeranam]

can someone tell me what lukleauh means in thai - i think its something bad, probably slang but i never managed to get a translation off anyone???

Could it be "look reua", meaning 'staff'?

[p_brownstone]

can someone tell me what lukleauh means in thai - i think its something bad, probably slang but i never managed to get a translation off anyone???

Could it be "look reua", meaning 'staff'?

ลูกเรือ (look reua) is more precisely translated as "Crew" as in a Ships' Crew or an Airline Crew.

Patrick

[p_brownstone]

how's kee nieow, shit sticky

more stingy, skinflint,

tg

Despite decades of Farang legend to the contrary ขี้เหนียว "Kee Nieow" does not mean "Sticky S h i t" .

Yes, ขี้ (Kee) , as a Noun means s h i t or faeces, however it is also an Adverb (exactly the same spelling in Thai) which means "likes" or "has a tendency to" - as in คนขี้เมา (Khon Kee Mao) - someone who tends to get drunk, or คนขี้บ่น (Khon Kee Bon) someone who likes to complain or gossip etc..

Further, although เหนียว (Nieow) as an Adjective can mean "Sticky" it is more correctly translated in this context as "stingy".

Thus the correct translation of (คน)ขี้เหนียว is simply someone who has a tendency to be frugal or parsimonious.

That said of course, it could be argued that since language is a living thing, general usage in certain circumstances or social groups has meant that "Kee Nieow" can, in those special instances, be correctly translated as "Sticky s h i t"!

Patrick

[mangkorn]

For selfish or greedy, how about: "kao chawp gin kon diaow" - (apologies for the translit).

I've heard that one a lot, and it paints a strong picture.

[mangkorn]

Yes, ขี้ (Kee) , as a Noun means s h i t or faeces, however it is also an Adverb (exactly the same spelling in Thai) which means "likes" or "has a tendency to" - as in คนขี้เมา (Khon Kee Mao) - someone who tends to get drunk, or คนขี้บ่น (Khon Kee Bon) someone who likes to complain or gossip etc..

Further, although เหนียว (Nieow) as an Adjective can mean "Sticky" it is more correctly translated in this context as "stingy".

Thus the correct translation of (คน)ขี้เหนียว is simply someone who has a tendency to be frugal or parsimonious.

Right. I'd also add that, apart from "likes" or "has a tendency to," the adverb suggests a defining characteristic of the person, as in Kee Aay for "shy." That's more than a preference or tendency. It may be akin to the English suffix "-er" (as in "complainer," for Kee Bon - he may not "like" to complain, but he sure does do it a lot...). As for Kee Mao, that seems to be generally regarded as "a drunk," or "an alcoholic," morseso than one who just likes to drink. (I like to drink, and have a certain tendency to, yet I am in no way Kee Mao. Really...)

And while I certainly like your translation of ขี้เหนียว as "frugal" - most Thais do tend to use that term scornfully, to mean "stingy."

ประหยัด is the preferred term for frugal, although there is no ขี้ประหยัด - at least not as far as I'm aware. But maybe there should be, dammit...