Racial Slurs

[Rikker]

ยิว for Thai old fashionable saying means selfish or stingy. But nowadays it's rarely in use.

If you can read Thai you can read why this word is used by the way from this web page ;

http://www.royin.go.th/th/knowledge/detail.php?ID=209

In brief, it's from a Jewish character in a Thai literature who is a selfish and stingy merchant.

Also, don't want to be the stinker to point out that this isn't *Thai* literature ดร. กาญจนา is referencing. It's none other than "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare. The character Shylock is a well known negative stereotype of Jews. The name of the literary work mentioned here, เวนิสวานิช, is a clever translation of the English title.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Rikker

[KhunMarco]

At my own guesthouse of yesteryear, it was the French and Italians I discouraged.

Why the French? Do you find them bad customers?

[yoot]

I've even heard one Thai blame the whole ฟองสบู่แตก recession on some Jewish guy doing underhanded trading in Thailand... wish I could remember the name of the guy he told me was responsible. Not because I believe it necessarily, but because I'd like to see what else I could find.

His name is George Soros.

And sorry for telling that เวนิสวานิช is a Thai literature. I studied the translation version which translated to Thai poem by King Rama VI, 25 years ago in my Thai literature class, so, I almost forget the detail of this story now.

[Rikker]

His name is George Soros.

Excellent! I love the communal knowledge of the web. Now I can read up on him. Thanks, yoot!

[sramkok-pratum]

Farang Kii Nok = White trash ..

Isn't it?

[Johpa]

At my own guesthouse of yesteryear, it was the French and Italians I discouraged.

Why the French? Do you find them bad customers?

They would steal things, especially the women. We had lots of blankets stolen duringn the winter months. Back some 25 years ago when I ran my guesthouse, I found it was better to deal with an obnoxious Israeli or a boorish Aussie than a conniving Eurotrash. In the city guesthouses they would steal from other travelers and then point their fingers at some hapless Thais who cleaned the rooms.

Not that I discriminated universally, but I did have some gut feelings with some travellers and once in awhile my huts suddenly became booked up at the instant. Some of the hardcore Eurotrash that smelled of Goa found themselves waiting for the next taxi for the hour long trip back to civilization.

[Totster]

I thought Kii Nok is a derogatory term used to say that someone has no money..

I.e Farang kii nok - Poor (as in no wealth) farang

totster

Standing at the urinal in bamrungrad hospital with a shirt and tie on(expensive ones too, well ironed), a couple of Thais came in and either side of me one said "farang kee nok".

I asked him to repeat himself and of course was shocked and denied saying it. If it wasn't for the fact that my wife was giving birth, I would have made a bigger scene about it.

Ignoring the nasty comments is of course the best thing to do, isn't it?

Depends whether it really matters... I for one couldn't give a shit what two strangers in a toilet thought about me..!

However... I would imagine it would be fun to ask them to repeat themselves, I would gain more satisfaction from seeing them squirm than making a big scene..

totster

[Thai-Aust]

As I have noted, most Thais are familiar with the word but have no clue as to its reference and are often bemused, if not bewildered, by the fact that Israelis are almost always of the Jewish persuasion and not of the Christian persuasion and that the word may have to do with religion and not personality.

I beleive that to Thais, they just don't care about whether or not Israelis are associated with Christian or personality, to them Israelis are just another falangs. But if they say to your face that you're a Jewish, it almost certainly means you're stingy. On the other hand, when they say 'Jewish of Thailand', it implies the calcuting Chinese in Thailand.

Edited June 10, 2006 by Thai-Aust

[Rikker]

Farang Kii Nok = White trash ..

Isn't it?

That's a close enough approximation. Or Eurotrash. To me it always meant more of a lech farang. Obviously, usage and interpretation varies.

[Rikker]

Standing at the urinal in bamrungrad hospital with a shirt and tie on(expensive ones too, well ironed), a couple of Thais came in and either side of me one said "farang kee nok".

I asked him to repeat himself and of course was shocked and denied saying it. If it wasn't for the fact that my wife was giving birth, I would have made a bigger scene about it.

Ignoring the nasty comments is of course the best thing to do, isn't it?

Depends whether it really matters... I for one couldn't give a shit what two strangers in a toilet thought about me..!

However... I would imagine it would be fun to ask them to repeat themselves, I would gain more satisfaction from seeing them squirm than making a big scene..

It's not all bad, though. People assuming you can't speak Thai also leads to amusing situations. When I lived in Bangkok last, I frequented the แพร่พิทยา bookstore at the local เซ็นทรัล. All I ever bought were books in Thai, but for some reason, the girls behind the checkout liked to gossip about me, but it was usually along the lines of แก้มแดง น่ารักจัง.. Whenever that sort of thing happens, I take great pleasure in giving a polite ขอบคุณครับ before I walk away. อึ้งกิมกี่

[samran]

ยิว for Thai old fashionable saying means selfish or stingy. But nowadays it's rarely in use.

If you can read Thai you can read why this word is used by the way from this web page ;

http://www.royin.go.th/th/knowledge/detail.php?ID=209

In brief, it's from a Jewish character in a Thai literature who is a selfish and stingy merchant.

There is a better known historical reason as to why the word yew (ยิว), or sometimes jiew (as in Chavalit being nicknamed the "Big Jiew") is associated with the western negative stereotype of Jews.

I always though that Chavalit's nick name was big Giew. Spelt with a gor-gaarn. Pronounced diferently from Jiew with with soft 'Y' sound.

[boppia]

I've also heard Shylock from a 45 year old Thai. I would guess a lot of the slang is timely. Some of it comes back again. Farang probably was a bad word at some point in the past.

Have you ever heard of I-rang? I guess its for farangs. It's pretty strong. Of course if you want to insult someone try suggesting them to leave by saying "by daek ahaan." Why are Thais so sensitive to words related to food?

I heea is a popular saying for people you hate. I have heard some drinkers greet their buddies as that sat down with Iheea too.

I know of a filipina who got put in to jail for saying "Nah hee" to a government official. She had a fight with the daughter of the official over a farang. I don't want to go into it too much but from what I heard she uttered "Nah hee" or you-no-what face to the jealous girl's mother and that was it. By the way she got out of jail later that day in the evening with the agreement that she would pay 10,000 baht to the offended party and apologize publicly at the post office(the place where the other girl's mom worked)

Edited June 10, 2006 by boppia

[meadish_sweetball]

Why are Thais so sensitive to words related to food?

In your example it is not the food thing that creates the insult, it is that you use the lowest possible alternative of a word meaning 'eat'. Using such low forms referring to another person means you are suggesting they are as low as that word...

All these curse words can be used among very close male friends, and in that case, what is an insult when used to a stranger, becomes a marker of close friendship instead (i.e. 'we are so close that we can call each other these things without any of us feeling insulted')...

[Guest endure]

All these curse words can be used among very close male friends, and in that case, what is an insult when used to a stranger, becomes a marker of close friendship instead (i.e. 'we are so close that we can call each other these things without any of us feeling insulted')...

Which is no different than among farang close friends, is it?

[meadish_sweetball]

Which is no different than among farang close friends, is it?

Not much I guess.

[chinadarling]

RE: Chinese and gui lao or lao wai

These words both mean monster. Chinese have often told me when I object to being called lao wai that it used to be a bad word but not is it not.

I.E. - I am calling you 'n***er' but I dont mean it as bad as I would have 10 years ago...

Mind blowing ignorance.

[Neeranam]

RE: Chinese and gui lao or lao wai

These words both mean monster. Chinese have often told me when I object to being called lao wai that it used to be a bad word but not is it not.

I.E. - I am calling you 'n***er' but I dont mean it as bad as I would have 10 years ago...

Mind blowing ignorance.

Can you explain more please about "gui lao" and lao wai".

How do you write them in Thai?

[bina]

sabaijai, thats one i've not heard; will have to 'snoop' around to see if they say that here!!!

rikker, can u transliterate the different words u wrote?? sorry still cant really read thai though recognize most letters... am curious

here every thai will consider their boss as jai dee or yuu (jew) kii nok; definately shylock type character.withholding money (the bosses do), not paying if possible (true unfortunately), etc etc...

every single arab regardless is 'kaek'!!! and like i said before, always always with a slight thai sneer....

or they say 'araap' (arab) but said in a very nasty sort of way... including saying it about other dark skinned (morrocan,yemen etc) jews! since they dont always differentiate (they cant 'hear' the accents, language differences etc)

i hear these comments several times a week: arab foreman is 'kii giet' (lazy); jai mai dee, smells etc etc 'kaek' ....

and they didnt learn it from the israelis either....

they also laugh and point out the ethiopian people (they stand and shout 'puu ying dam dam), especially when they see the more 'ethnic' ones w/babies strapped on back.... (bannoork!).... (and who is really banork? and 'lao'? and 'dam'??? issaan men of course the pot calling the kettle black, really....

everyone has their own cultural hangups within the group and without....

[Rinrada]

Farang Kii Nok = White trash ..

Isn't it?

That's a close enough approximation. Or Eurotrash. To me it always meant more of a lech farang. Obviously, usage and interpretation varies.

Nothing to do with white trash.. it purely refers to (in this case foreigners)who are tight on spending their dosh....from a Thais perspective....of course

Bit like the personal banking industry and related as to where the monkey keeps his nuts...simply "Kii Nok"=Sticky Bum..or to be more polite bottom.(again all food related)

Wot ever you say......dont call a Thai a Quai...unless...

[Nordlys]

I have been told "ai yun" is the derogatory term used against Japanese, though I've never been called this way in 25 years I lived in Thailand. Can someone tell me what "yun" means and what connotation it might have, if any?

[Rikker]

rikker, can u transliterate the different words u wrote?? sorry still cant really read thai though recognize most letters... am curious

thai2english.com should fill all of your transliteration needs. Past any Thai text and there you go. You can configure it under "Preferences" to use any of seven different transliteration schemes. Very useful site for learners.

[Rikker]

Nothing to do with white trash.. it purely refers to (in this case foreigners)who are tight on spending their dosh....from a Thais perspective....of course

Again, I think people are mishearing the word ขี้งก "khii ngok" as ขี้นก "khii nok".

ขี้งก "khii ngok" is a common word for stingy or greedy, but not very polite. ฝรั่งขี้งก would be a stingy farang. ยิวขี้งก would be a stingy Jew, etc. etc. It doesn't have to follow a nationality. Thais call each other ขี้งก (but probably not to one another's faces... )

ฝรั่งขี้นก "farang khii nok" is a fixed phrase--the ขี้นก part doesn't detach. It comes from the name of a variety of guava with red flesh inside. Originally referred to Thais who acted like Westerners (because they were the same on the outside different on the inside). Then came to mean Thais with bad manners, like a Westerner (i.e. breaking Thai decorum, much like a farang who didn't know proper Thai manners). Now it has come to mean a farang with bad manners, or a farang who frequents whorehouses, or Eurotrash farangs, etc.

If anyone can refute me authoritatively, please do ... I'm just still not convinced of "stingy" being a meaning for ฝรั่งขี้นก, when ขี้งก--a phonetic minimal pair!--already has that meaning. I still reserve the right to be proven wrong, though.

Edited June 14, 2006 by Rikker

[meadish_sweetball]

For what it is worth, my experience of ฝรั่งขี้นก "farang khii nok" is 100% as Rikker says.

'khii ngok' and 'khii niaow' are words used for people reluctant to part with their possessions, Thai or farang.

[Postie]

"Kii Nok"...(again!)

Decribing a Tiny (as in, utterly worthless) bit of white bird <deleted>. "Kii Mar", as in (stinking) dog <deleted>.

"Dark ling" (and it ain't Darling) Lao for monkeys' anus.

The first two are warning/descriptive phrases. Suggesting "this is what you get, for your time and trouble...NO money/Unpleasant experience.

As with all expletives. They can be heated Abstract terms of abuse. Generally a sign of frustratioin in a social context.

OR...

"Kii mar! MEHN Wa!" When changing (wife's job) the baby's nappy...Or me dropping my guts!

Exclamation. But indicating this is being tolerated as a LABOUR OF LOVE. Hence, WE ALL LAUGH TOGETHER!

Insults...Shared experiences...Keep smiling "Waa!"

[meadish_sweetball]

I have been told "ai yun" is the derogatory term used against Japanese, though I've never been called this way in 25 years I lived in Thailand. Can someone tell me what "yun" means and what connotation it might have, if any?

If anyone knows better feel free to correct me, but I dont think 'yun' has any other meaning than as a mildly derogatory version of Japanese, like 'Jap' - although, with an 'ai' in front, it would be more of an insult.

[Neeranam]

I heard a girl making a comment about an isarn girl today, which wasn't very nice I think - "dtang maeb" meaning no bridge of the nose. this is not as bad as "dtang boeng", meaning wide nose, which is fighting talk.

[lovely thai]

I'm Thai, and I don't even know how to say the N-word 😂 cause I grew up with civilized parents. 

Still trying to figure out how google brought me to this forun post 

[Puccini]

On 6/14/2006 at 4:23 PM, Nordlys said:

...Can someone tell me what "yun" means and what connotation it might have, if any?

 

How do you pronounce your "yun"?