The Word Teeluk

[jcttodd]

Been here 25 years, fluent in spoken and written Thai, and manage a translation company. (tee rak) is a term of endearment, similar to "darling" or "sweetheart." Literally, it translates as "beloved." As such, most Thais will only use it in the context of a private conversation or communication with their partner, and then only sparingly.

For example, when I travel, my wife and I mostly stay in touch by email. In an email, she will normally address me as (khun / you) or (Khun Bin / my nickname with khun used as an honorific). In closing, she might write something like(/ goodnight, sweetheart).

The word itself is class-neutral. The way a person uses the word may be class indicative.

I agree totally.

Heard tee rak used many times in BKK and Udon Thani and Tak. Was the same in all 3 locations.

My old TGF really didnt care for it because SHE said "I am not in bar" so I switched and tried out American "darling" lol wow she thought I called her "dak link" and that was the end of that. So I taught her to say "honey". She liked that and told me," that is good because you are fat and sweet", she never called me anything else.

[cgphuket]

I was reading through some online articles late last night about the Thai language. In one persons opinion teeluk is used in an almost sarcastic and degrading way from Thai women to western men. It goes on to say that a nice Thai woman would never call their Thai partner teeluk. What are people's thoughts on this?

I've heard many references here to teerak, teelak, now teeluk. My wife has never called me any of them and I've never heard her use the term with others either. Maybe it's an Isaan thing?.

Or maybe she is not that fond of you...just saying.

[Mosha]

Tee Ruk NOT Tee Luk

I always use "Tee Ruk" and also "Dear"

Also "Dearest" (Sood Tee Ruk).

I mean it when I call my loved one those words.

By the way, many Thai people seem to have "Lazy tongue" with words that spelled with "ร. เรือ" (-R-), majority Thais will pronounce as "ล.ลิง" (L) instead.

My wife is called Suthirak, and she says it means "My darling"

[SteeleJoe]

Tee Ruk NOT Tee Luk

I always use "Tee Ruk" and also "Dear"

Also "Dearest" (Sood Tee Ruk).

I mean it when I call my loved one those words.

By the way, many Thai people seem to have "Lazy tongue" with words that spelled with "ร. เรือ" (-R-), majority Thais will pronounce as "ล.ลิง" (L) instead.

My wife is called Suthirak, and she says it means "My darling"

It just makes "the one that I love" stronger (ie the one I love the most) - another endearment like sweetheart, darling, dearest whatever...Neither of you are precisely right, because it can't be literally translated to either - but what is the practical difference between "dearest" and "my darling" (or sweetheart or whatever)?

[uptheos]

if she is calling you tee rak after the first 20 minutes it just means she cant remember your name

+1

Or doesn't want to confuse you with all the others.

Sometimes it's not easy to remember all the different teerak's names

[Jigger]

What is the meaning of rubbish?

Answer -- pitiful, narrow minded folks who move to a faraway country and then spend the

rest of their lives trashing the country, the people and their customs and traditions.

If someone strongly dislikes Thai music, that equates to trashing the country, the people and their customs and traditions? It means that person is pitiful and narrow minded rubbish?

If a Thai moved to America and said American music was rubbish, would you say he was trashing the country, the people and their customs and traditions and HE was pitiful narrow minded rubbish?

I wouldn't.

I like American music, I like Thai music.

I like many different styles of music.

I have to agree with BiA's comment.

I have no problem with a lady calling me teerak, I do have a problem with people calling me farang, especially as I am not white and I'm not a foreigner.

I honestly dont think anybody should care about your opinion in regards to anything Thai...

AnotherOneAmerican

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Posted 2012-03-06 19:22:19

So I came over to Thailand after a messy divorce in the US.

Met this amazing girl in a coffee shop in Bangkok, then spent a marvelous two weeks with her.

Never experienced anything like this before, am planning to sell my house in Maine, and come back to be with her.

I thought I was well past the 'falling in love' part of my life at 63, but this beautiful 24 year old woman loves me and I love her.

What I was wondering is, should I move to Bangkok, or is there somewhere else better for me to live.

Never really been outside of the US before.

(Going Back to the US next week)

So you have been here roughly a year.

You have meet a 24 year old who 'loves you'.

You have no idea where you should live

You have never really been out of the US..

lol

But now, about 12 months later, you are telling people what makes lower class Thai's, taking offence to standard words, teaching fluent thai speakers how to speak Thai?

May I ask, if you have never really been out of the US, how are you not a foreigner And why should the fact you are not white hold any impact? Farang is simply a term that means westener which you are, if your 1st thread is not a lie... If it was though, then anything else you type should be taken with a tiny grain of salt.

Much of what I have read in your posts literally boggles my mind.... It does read as an arm chair expert with no real knowledge.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Jigger

[AnotherOneAmerican]

May I ask, if you have never really been out of the US, how are you not a foreigner And why should the fact you are not white hold any impact? Farang is simply a term that means westener which you are, if your 1st thread is not a lie... If it was though, then anything else you type should be taken with a tiny grain of salt.

Much of what I have read in your posts literally boggles my mind.... It does read as an arm chair expert with no real knowledge.

My mother was Thai, my father (army) moved us to the USA shortly after I was born.

I can speak Thai, because my mother used to speak to me in Thai.

But having to learn to read and write Thai, finding the reading OK, but the writing hard, all the words spelt oddly.

Oh, my age in that post is wrong, typo.

Didn't work out with the girl, once she found out I was Thai, and didn't need to buy a house (or anything else) in her name, the usual stuff.

Got my Thai ID issued a few months back.

Are you telling us you were never 'taken in' by a floozy?

[Sayonarax]

Sarcastic and degrading?

No!

It just might sound "funny" (don't know the appropriate englisch word), as adult Thais are

generally not using too much terms of endearment (especially in public).

They would not shout for their "darling!!!".

(so far I would agree with the articles that you read).

If your Thai partner call you like that it not sarcasitc.

By the way: the official transkript for <Thai Language removed> is "thi rak".

For you english people maybe like "teerug"? with that soft "r".

The "l" is the usual lazy dialect

​ Official Thai to English?

[IrishIvan]

Spot on Brad! You only missed out "socialise mainly with bar girls" and you've a good profile.

I share the disdain for pitiful, narrow minded folks who move to a faraway country and then spend the rest of their lives trashing the country, the people and their customs and traditions. I find them odd and unpleasant, to say the least.

But I don't agree that if someone doesn't like Thai music - or shows any other personal taste that happens not to include something of Thai origin - that makes them "rubbish".

To think that way is to me extremely narrow-minded (and illogical).

Well, we could say that rubbish is as rubbish does...

To express the idea "doesn't like" is normal and understandable. But

calling someone's music or movies "rubbish" is quite another thing.

In particular, a farang going to another country and expressing such

extreme disdain for the local culture is a rather despicable way for a

mature, civilized adult to act.

I have zero interest in football (Man Utd, Barcelona and all that), but

for me to call it rubbish would be offensive to millions of football fans.

No one forces me to watch football (thank heaven) and I doubt anyone

forces farangs to to watch Thai soap operas.

I think Scottish punk music is rubbish too. It doesnt mean I hate Scots.

[SteeleJoe]

In particular, a farang going to another country and expressing such

extreme disdain for the local culture is a rather despicable way for a

mature, civilized adult to act.

Why is it particularly bad for a Farang to do it? (It's interesting how often people who rush to defend, no matter what, anything to do with the culture or society of a developing country are people who actually unconsciously take for granted that westerners should somehow be better than them. This may or may not apply here.)

My Thai wife thinks US soaps AND Thai soaps are rubbish. She thinks a lot of the pop of both countries is too. Is she being despicable? Is she trashing the culture and customs of both her country and mine?

[Thakkar]

-snip-

Are you telling us you were never 'taken in' by a floozy?

Oh, I was "taken in" by a floozy all right, but only in the biblical sense!

T

[Balance]

I use Tii rak jaa with my wife often and she always tells me that it is "good word,"

[Keesters]

And I'm glad of it.

Yes, I got that from your first post - it was among the small bit that was believable.

Believe what you like but I know what I hear.

[Furbie]

Christ almighty, all this to discuss about the Thai equivalent of "my darling"...

It’s not about the word itself. It’s about the frustration between the guys with BGGFs and their insecurities, and the guys with GGGFs who are terrified someone will mistake their GGGF for a BGGF.

Hope that’s clear.

[dazk]

My girlfriend just calls me moo, I think I would prefer teerak....

glad im not the only one my wife also calls me moo

and when she wants to get the attention of her friends sometimes she calls out teelak

[elektrified]

I was reading through some online articles late last night about the Thai language. In one persons opinion teeluk is used in an almost sarcastic and degrading way from Thai women to western men. It goes on to say that a nice Thai woman would never call their Thai partner teeluk. What are people's thoughts on this?

I've heard many references here to teerak, teelak, now teeluk. My wife has never called me any of them and I've never heard her use the term with others either. Maybe it's an Isaan thing?.

I tend to agree with you. In 25 years of visiting and living here the only lady I have ever heard use that term was a fairly low-class woman I met in BKK who was from Isaan. Must be an Isaan thing.

[dazk]

just asked the wife her translation of the word teelak

darling was here answer

no she is not low class and she is not or has never been a bar girl

she would use the word with friends, but with me only in private

[Lizard0]

Christ almighty, all this to discuss about the Thai equivalent of "my darling"...

It’s not about the word itself. It’s about the frustration between the guys with BGGFs and their insecurities, and the guys with GGGFs who are terrified someone will mistake their GGGF for a BGGF.

Hope that’s clear.

LOL, well said. This thread was never about anything else

A phrase is jut that, and highly relative to who is saying it in what context.

Hard to understand the 'L' substitution all the time, certainly not relegated to the lower class. Find it humorous when I hear K. Llama lol!

In my relationship it is usually said at the end of a sentence, not typically as the first 'pronoun'. Fan dee nah kap tiirak <3

[PalMan]

Another vote for accurate pronunciation of R vs L having nothing to do with class, but better-educated central Thais will have received formal training in getting this right, it is important to a very small percentage of academic pedants as an arbitrary linguistic signifier, similar to artificial BS like "someone with whom I'd have nothing to do".

As for the word teerak itself, because it is one of the first Thai words a normal monger-tourist will encounter in the bars, it is often used somewhat sarcastically (or perhaps even consciously avoided) by Thais in relation to foreigners that are aware of that fact.

However within a Thai-only context it is frequently used as a sincere and meaningful equivalent of (most literally) "my beloved" or (depending on your "home" culture/slang - honey, darling, sweetheart/sweetie, baby/babe, sugar doll etc. - all of which of course can be used in the same sarcastic way in our own language depending on the context, perhaps signifying "I'm buttering you up because I want something from you but of course you know that I do actually love you even if I'm laying it on thick at the moment".

[smokie36]

The correct word is "theerak".

I am not a fan.

Trust me...I know this word well......

[PalMan]

The correct word is "theerak".

I am not a fan.

Trust me...I know this word well......

There is no one right way to romanize Thai (transliterate its sounds into Latin characters), the "royal official" way is actually the silliest system for pronunciation purposes, their priority was Sanskrit vs Khmer vs Pali etymology.

Personally I'd never use "TH" to designate the hard aspirated T sound, but use "DT" for the softer "in between" unaspirated one (as in turtle), which means a plain T suffices and doesn't cause confusion with the English "th" sounds like thick and this.

Doing it your way is why so many ignorant teenagers get a giggle out of "Phuket", IMO should have been publicized as "Poock Et", but placenames have become a bit more standardized for better or worse.

[smokie36]

The correct word is "theerak".

I am not a fan.

Trust me...I know this word well......

There is no one right way to romanize Thai (transliterate its sounds into Latin characters), the "royal official" way is actually the silliest system for pronunciation purposes, their priority was Sanskrit vs Khmer vs Pali etymology.

Personally I'd never use "TH" to designate the hard aspirated T sound, but use "DT" for the softer "in between" unaspirated one (as in turtle), which means a plain T suffices and doesn't cause confusion with the English "th" sounds like thick and this.

Doing it your way is why so many ignorant teenagers get a giggle out of "Phuket", IMO should have been publicized as "Poock Et", but placenames have become a bit more standardized for better or worse.

Its not "my" way. Its how my girlfriend chooses to phoneticize it.

She is Thai and very clever as well.....

[PalMan]

The correct word is "theerak".

I am not a fan.

Trust me...I know this word well......

There is no one right way to romanize Thai (transliterate its sounds into Latin characters), the "royal official" way is actually the silliest system for pronunciation purposes, their priority was Sanskrit vs Khmer vs Pali etymology.

Personally I'd never use "TH" to designate the hard aspirated T sound, but use "DT" for the softer "in between" unaspirated one (as in turtle), which means a plain T suffices and doesn't cause confusion with the English "th" sounds like thick and this.

Doing it your way is why so many ignorant teenagers get a giggle out of "Phuket", IMO should have been publicized as "Poock Et", but placenames have become a bit more standardized for better or worse.

Its not "my" way. Its how my girlfriend chooses to phoneticize it.

She is Thai and very clever as well.....

I didn't mean to imply that you'd invented it, nor that your GF isn't clever.

Just pointing out there isn't a standard scheme, which belief is implied by your use of "the correct. . ." above.

And IMO Thais are the very last people you should ask about this issue, like asking fish to try to be objective about H2O

Edited May 15, 2013 by PalMan

[smokie36]

Not at all. A Thai who speaks, writes and understands English perfectly well and also obviously has Thai as their first language is better placed than anyone else to translate the word into comprehensible English for us poor dumb farangs.

Like it or not its true.

I hate it.

[PalMan]

Not at all. A Thai who speaks, writes and understands English perfectly well and also obviously has Thai as their first language is better placed than anyone else to translate the word into comprehensible English for us poor dumb farangs.

Like it or not its true.

I hate it.

But no one's talking about translating anything into English.

Transliteration, or "romanizing" ideally works just as well for the other languages that use roman letters - but since there are over a thousand, that's a pretty tall order.

I will continue to believe that trained linguistics experts specializing in phonology should take the task on - to the extent they happen to be native Thai speakers, all the better, but the problem is they're less likely to be objective, will probably be affected by biases, like respecting the work previously done by Thai academics sitting on royal committees in the past.

Edited May 15, 2013 by PalMan

[smokie36]

Not at all. A Thai who speaks, writes and understands English perfectly well and also obviously has Thai as their first language is better placed than anyone else to translate the word into comprehensible English for us poor dumb farangs.

Like it or not its true.

I hate it.

But no one's talking about translating anything into English.

Transliteration, or "romanizing" ideally works just as well for the other languages that use roman letters - but since there are over a thousand, that's a pretty tall order.

I will continue to believe that trained linguistics experts specializing in phonology should take the task on - to the extent they happen to be native Thai speakers, all the better, but the problem is they're less likely to be objective, will probably be affected by biases, like respecting the work previously done by Thai academics sitting on royal committees in the past.

I understood what you were saying from the off mate.

Truth is I found my gf's interpretation different from mine as well. But then how can you argue the point?

[MrHammer]

Another vote for accurate pronunciation of R vs L having nothing to do with class, but better-educated central Thais will have received formal training in getting this right, it is important to a very small percentage of academic pedants as an arbitrary linguistic signifier, similar to artificial BS like "someone with whom I'd have nothing to do".

As for the word teerak itself, because it is one of the first Thai words a normal monger-tourist will encounter in the bars, it is often used somewhat sarcastically (or perhaps even consciously avoided) by Thais in relation to foreigners that are aware of that fact.

However within a Thai-only context it is frequently used as a sincere and meaningful equivalent of (most literally) "my beloved" or (depending on your "home" culture/slang - honey, darling, sweetheart/sweetie, baby/babe, sugar doll etc. - all of which of course can be used in the same sarcastic way in our own language depending on the context, perhaps signifying "I'm buttering you up because I want something from you but of course you know that I do actually love you even if I'm laying it on thick at the moment".

I disagree, in Bangkok at least the ability to properly pronounce the 'r' sound is a definite class marker. You know, the same as not calling someone farang to their face or in their immediate vicinity. Someone saying 'falang' when I'm around, means they are with 96.3% certainty lower class people.

[PalMan]

Another vote for accurate pronunciation of R vs L having nothing to do with class, but better-educated central Thais will have received formal training in getting this right, it is important to a very small percentage of academic pedants as an arbitrary linguistic signifier, similar to artificial BS like "someone with whom I'd have nothing to do".

As for the word teerak itself, because it is one of the first Thai words a normal monger-tourist will encounter in the bars, it is often used somewhat sarcastically (or perhaps even consciously avoided) by Thais in relation to foreigners that are aware of that fact.

However within a Thai-only context it is frequently used as a sincere and meaningful equivalent of (most literally) "my beloved" or (depending on your "home" culture/slang - honey, darling, sweetheart/sweetie, baby/babe, sugar doll etc. - all of which of course can be used in the same sarcastic way in our own language depending on the context, perhaps signifying "I'm buttering you up because I want something from you but of course you know that I do actually love you even if I'm laying it on thick at the moment".

I disagree, in Bangkok at least the ability to properly pronounce the 'r' sound is a definite class marker. You know, the same as not calling someone farang to their face or in their immediate vicinity. Someone saying 'falang' when I'm around, means they are with 96.3% certainty lower class people.

You can say the same about those who claim not to believe in ghosts, or that they don't like to eat bugs.

They're complying with the western perception of what's correct so that western people don't think badly of them.

Not a class/education marker as such within Thai language/culture, just showing greater awareness and knowledge of ours. Once they know that you think less of them they'll tell you what you want to hear and impossible to get the real truth out of them verbally.

IMO anyway. . .

Note I don't don't think any of the four behaviors others may find offensive to be so, please don't think I'm denigrating Thais for any of them, I don't consider this "dishonesty" from a moral POV.

Edited May 16, 2013 by PalMan

[hotandhumid]

It sounds absolutely ridiculous when you hear a farang say this to a Thai.

If you are one of these then cut it out. Trust me you sound like an utter fool.

[TexasRanger]

Lower classes, there really are some snobby A holes on here. I guess you are high class if you are some minimum wage westerner but the rich guy that lives in Nakorn Phanom with a chain of gold shops is low class because he is dark skinned and from Issan?