Why do thais refer to a(young) child as "luug" whilst knowing their name ?

[benalibina]

Does anybody know the reason for that and what do you think about it ?

[Jasun]

It may sound like calling them 'child' but in that context it's closer to 'darling' or 'sweetie'.

[cpofc]

Never stopped to think about it before.

Luk is a noun = Young, (as opposed to Dek being the word for Children)

so I guess that's the guts of it, Luk Chai Luk Sao - young son, young daughter..

Similar to us saying 'Hey Son, come here' or 'Son! Stop doing that'. Although we rarely use the term Daughter in the way.

I am not a fluent or native Thai speaker so I will stand corrected.

[benalibina]

Luug means child, i know that. I just wonder why they don't refer to them by their given name. Seems rather impersonal !

[Banzai99]

Why don't you ask the Thai person/persons in question yourself, you may get a proper response ?

On this site it will be just another opportunity to do some Thai Bashing.

[Jasun]

Luug means child, i know that. I just wonder why they don't refer to them by their given name. Seems rather impersonal !

Tiger, cobber, buddy, sweety, pal, bub, champ, young fella, matey, darling, my boy... terms of endearment, not impersonal.

The direct translation sounds odd.

[daoyai]

Never stopped to think about it before.

Luk is a noun = Young, (as opposed to Dek being the word for Children)

so I guess that's the guts of it, Luk Chai Luk Sao - young son, young daughter..

Similar to us saying 'Hey Son, come here' or 'Son! Stop doing that'. Although we rarely use the term Daughter in the way.

I am not a fluent or native Thai speaker so I will stand corrected.

Young is not a noun, it is an adjective ..... Luk or lug is baby, also used as a classifier for fruits .... I call all the lil kids "neeww" mouse, i think it is cute sounding.

[Gsxrnz]

For the same reason they use Nong, Pee, Noo, Loong, Yai etc rather than use given names.

They also rarely use personal pronouns (pomme, di-chan) and will instead use their own name, or refer to themselves as pee or nong etc depending on who they are talking to, or talking about, and their respective age relationship/status.

It's just the way the language works.

[Somtamnication]

I use it with my under 12 students. It is a nice term of endearment. Use it, you might make a friend!

[Songhua]

Dek is a child or children (as in school children or all the children), luuk is child (as in offspring, son, daughter) and is also a term of endearment. People will quite often use it when speaking to a niece or nephew and even other children.

[canuckamuck]

There are numerous occasions where Thais seem to prefer addressing someone by a designation rather than by their name.

I miss being called by my name.

[Goshawk]

the term is not age restrictive (young children).... Mrs G' is 47yrs old, and still 'luuk' to her significant close family elders.

[arthurwait]

My understanding is that it means baby and caries on as son daughter, but baby mainly as in lug meow means kitten.

[Berkshire]

Luug means child, i know that. I just wonder why they don't refer to them by their given name. Seems rather impersonal !

Tiger, cobber, buddy, sweety, pal, bub, champ, young fella, matey, darling, my boy... terms of endearment, not impersonal.

The direct translation sounds odd.

This is exactly right. It's more affectionate, actually, than calling your child by their given names. Many times in America we'd refer to our sons as boy, son, champ, kid, or a nickname. Girls could be honey, sweetie, sugarplumb, cupcake, sunshine....Christ, any number of nicknames. Luuk can apply to boys and girls, and is usually uttered with a certain amount of parental affection.

Does the OP really not get this?

[sbk]

Its a term of endearment as has been stated by more than a few people.

Another thread that seems designed to simply criticise Thai people. Perhaps best to learn some Thai and don't take everything in a negative context and you will probably understand people here a bit better.

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