So is fat and muscular mean the same thing in thai?

[Howitzer]

The thais i have spoken to have not really made a distinction between someone that is fat and muscular in english since i don't really speak thai.

For example ronnie coleman is muscular. Yet a thai would probably call him fat. Jared from subway commercials is fat. He and ronnie coleman should not be put in the same sentence.

Brock lesnar is muscular but i don't know doesn't look like body builder muscular. So as long as you are big you are fat to thais?

[longstebe]

If you are muscular you are Mafia if you're fat, you're just fat.

[jspill]

LOL yes this happened to me, I showed a girl Phil Heath on stage, ~4% bodyfat, asked her if that's 'uan'. Reply was a resounding yes.

[Howitzer]

LOL yes this happened to me, I showed a girl Phil Heath on stage, ~4% bodyfat, asked her if that's 'uan'. Reply was a resounding yes.

it means fat in thai right?

I mean there are burly and muscular thais around and fat ones too is it just that thai language does not distinguish between fat and muscular.

[jspill]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

[haxolotl]

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

The contraceptive pill contains progesterone and oestrogen, not testosterone.

It will actually lower your testosterone levels as it will reduce the natural production of testosterone in your ovaries.

In my experience, the lack of many Thais ability to distinguish between muscle and fat is not a language issue but more of a cultural issue.

To the majority of Thai women I know (there are exceptions obviously), muscle is not considered attractive and the ideal body shape that they're looking for tends to be a rail thin, effeminate looking guy.

Coupled with the fact it's very rare to see a Thai that's muscular and not also fat, they seem to not care about distinguishing between the two and simply classify anyone big as being fat.

[robblok]

In my experience they do differentiate, when i was fat i was called uan, when i got muscular and dropped the fat i never heard uan again.

But I don't really care what they call me as long as i never become a fat bastard again.

But to think that people like pro bodybuilders is crazy almost nobody (me included) likes those. I admire how far they got.. but not how they look.

From experience I know plenty of Thai girls like muscular and an other group does not. Fact of life we all like different things, same goes for girls.

[Gumballl]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Interesting info, for I myself am overweight (and not muscular).

Btw, what does 'pui' mean in this context under discussion? I took it to mean 'fat', as in someone having a beer belly.

-------

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

P.S. It is 'okay' for me to be overweight; I'm married.

[robblok]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Interesting info, for I myself am overweight (and not muscular).

Btw, what does 'pui' mean in this context under discussion? I took it to mean 'fat', as in someone having a beer belly.

-------

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

P.S. It is 'okay' for me to be overweight; I'm married.

Guess you would complain when your wife let herself go.. most guys do.. they want their wife to be sexy while they grow a beer belly.

Everyone is free to do as he wants in my opinion but then be honest you would not want a fat partner for sex.. why would a girl want someone like that in bed. (i made the assumption you did not want a fat partner in bed ik now I would not I could be wrong)

[robblok]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

I hear the glaam yai a lot.. never the uan so there is definitely a difference.

[Cypress Hill]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Interesting info, for I myself am overweight (and not muscular).

Btw, what does 'pui' mean in this context under discussion? I took it to mean 'fat', as in someone having a beer belly.

-------

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

P.S. It is 'okay' for me to be overweight; I'm married.

Guess you would complain when your wife let herself go.. most guys do.. they want their wife to be sexy while they grow a beer belly.

Everyone is free to do as he wants in my opinion but then be honest you would not want a fat partner for sex.. why would a girl want someone like that in bed. (i made the assumption you did not want a fat partner in bed ik now I would not I could be wrong)

This is something I've noticed a lot on Thaivisa.

A lot of men talk about how they don't want to have sex with fat and unattractive women but they don't see the double standard in being fat and unattractive themselves

Obviously, back home, they can forget about getting women to sleep with them in that condition but, here in Thailand, they can afford to pay a local woman to at least conceal her repulsion and hold down the vomit.

[KhunBENQ]

There is a clear distinction in words for muscular and fat.

Find a better language expert than this "girl"

Muscular/strong buitl in misc. variations:

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155717 (lâm)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155405 (lâm săn)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155403 (gam-yam)

maybe more variations.

[simon43]

the ideal body shape that they're looking for tends to be a rail thin, effeminate looking guy.

ho-hum, off to the makeup counter then...

[DP25]

There is a clear distinction in words for muscular and fat.

Find a better language expert than this "girl"

Muscular/strong buitl in misc. variations:

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155717 (lâm)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155405 (lâm săn)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155403 (gam-yam)

maybe more variations.

Yes, the words are different in Thai.

Use that dictionary to type lam san (muscular) in Thai in to google image search, and then use it to type uan (fat). You will see the difference...

[Asheron]

Showing elite bodybuilders Like Heath, Greene, Coleman or Cutler to thai women and asking if they are fat will give you a "yes" most of the time because they look like they are 8th month pregnant on stage

Now, take a picture of someone like Jon Brownell and they most like will so "no" regarding fat or not. But how can thai women possible know anything about muscles or fitness when about 99,35% of all thai men look like they were just rescued out of Auschwitz and that is the looks of men most thai women like.

[NoshowJones]

In my experience they do differentiate, when i was fat i was called uan, when i got muscular and dropped the fat i never heard uan again.

But I don't really care what they call me as long as i never become a fat bastard again.

But to think that people like pro bodybuilders is crazy almost nobody (me included) likes those. I admire how far they got.. but not how they look.

From experience I know plenty of Thai girls like muscular and an other group does not. Fact of life we all like different things, same goes for girls.

You do know that muscle weighs more than fat, so you will probably be overweight, I heard my wife refer to one of my fat friends as 'heavy', not 'uan'.

[NoshowJones]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Interesting info, for I myself am overweight (and not muscular).

Btw, what does 'pui' mean in this context under discussion? I took it to mean 'fat', as in someone having a beer belly.

-------

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

P.S. It is 'okay' for me to be overweight; I'm married.

Guess you would complain when your wife let herself go.. most guys do.. they want their wife to be sexy while they grow a beer belly.

Everyone is free to do as he wants in my opinion but then be honest you would not want a fat partner for sex.. why would a girl want someone like that in bed. (i made the assumption you did not want a fat partner in bed ik now I would not I could be wrong)

why would a girl want someone like that in bed? I think the answer is obvious, very deep pockets.

[robblok]

In my experience they do differentiate, when i was fat i was called uan, when i got muscular and dropped the fat i never heard uan again.

But I don't really care what they call me as long as i never become a fat bastard again.

But to think that people like pro bodybuilders is crazy almost nobody (me included) likes those. I admire how far they got.. but not how they look.

From experience I know plenty of Thai girls like muscular and an other group does not. Fact of life we all like different things, same goes for girls.

You do know that muscle weighs more than fat, so you will probably be overweight, I heard my wife refer to one of my fat friends as 'heavy', not 'uan'.

Of course I am overweight.. but that is not bad as long as its muscle.. if your overweight and fat it could be bad to your health. That is why BMI is such a stupid thing for people with some muscles.

[Howitzer]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Ok it's fine when they say it in thai BUT the problem is when they say it in english. I guess most thais wouldn't know the meaning of "muscular" or would probably feel lazy to say it. They just transliterate it from thai to english which is fat and english speakers when they hear fat they think of the pot bellied person not the muscular one.

Another example of this transliteration i remember about was speaking to this thai on breasts and in thai they mean milk so they also say "milk" in english to refer to "breasts"

[NoshowJones]

In my experience they do differentiate, when i was fat i was called uan, when i got muscular and dropped the fat i never heard uan again.

But I don't really care what they call me as long as i never become a fat bastard again.

But to think that people like pro bodybuilders is crazy almost nobody (me included) likes those. I admire how far they got.. but not how they look.

From experience I know plenty of Thai girls like muscular and an other group does not. Fact of life we all like different things, same goes for girls.

You do know that muscle weighs more than fat, so you will probably be overweight, I heard my wife refer to one of my fat friends as 'heavy', not 'uan'.

Of course I am overweight.. but that is not bad as long as its muscle.. if your overweight and fat it could be bad to your health. That is why BMI is such a stupid thing for people with some muscles.

I agree with that Robblok, but in my opinion, being overweight whether it's fat or muscle is very unsightly.

[Asheron]

In my experience they do differentiate, when i was fat i was called uan, when i got muscular and dropped the fat i never heard uan again.

But I don't really care what they call me as long as i never become a fat bastard again.

But to think that people like pro bodybuilders is crazy almost nobody (me included) likes those. I admire how far they got.. but not how they look.

From experience I know plenty of Thai girls like muscular and an other group does not. Fact of life we all like different things, same goes for girls.

You do know that muscle weighs more than fat, so you will probably be overweight, I heard my wife refer to one of my fat friends as 'heavy', not 'uan'.

Of course I am overweight.. but that is not bad as long as its muscle.. if your overweight and fat it could be bad to your health. That is why BMI is such a stupid thing for people with some muscles.

I agree with that Robblok, but in my opinion, being overweight whether it's fat or muscle is very unsightly.

What is "overweight" in muscles? Something like 24-25 FFMI?

[jspill]

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

not 'phom' as in 'I', but 'pum' = round shaped, puy = chubby cheeked, apparently http://www.thai-language.com/id/211313

There is a clear distinction in words for muscular and fat.

Find a better language expert than this "girl"

Muscular/strong buitl in misc. variations:

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155717 (lâm)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155405 (lâm săn)

http://www.thai-language.com/id/155403 (gam-yam)

maybe more variations.

Sure there are many more technical words in the dictionary, but in practice you rarely ever hear them, they use more casual terms.

[madmax6889]

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

The contraceptive pill contains progesterone and oestrogen, not testosterone.

It will actually lower your testosterone levels as it will reduce the natural production of testosterone in your ovaries.

In my experience, the lack of many Thais ability to distinguish between muscle and fat is not a language issue but more of a cultural issue.

To the majority of Thai women I know (there are exceptions obviously), muscle is not considered attractive and the ideal body shape that they're looking for tends to be a rail thin, effeminate looking guy.

Coupled with the fact it's very rare to see a Thai that's muscular and not also fat, they seem to not care about distinguishing between the two and simply classify anyone big as being fat.

i wiould have to agree with you just aks my girlfriend ad a mutual friend who is very large for a hai... about my height 6 foot 2.. huge for a local.. is just considered uan here.. even though he is muscular... they might say yai... but they more or less say uan... hes no body builder just a regular european body.. but his arms are about like some thais waists.. .. i ws surprised when they some times said uan for me also... as i rather fit..

but it really does seem that thais especially women see muscles as looking fat.. or bulky..

i asked the thai guy about it.. hes rather westernized a nerd type. so understood what i was on about... and he said yeah... they say mostly fat for anything thats not rake skinny..

so hes like some big fat freakish giant for most thai people.. even though int he west he just be considered a stocky build...

also bodybuilders are exceptionally funny or thais especially the low class ones fomr small villages who have never scene a person over 60 kilos.. they look totally inhuman !!

[madmax6889]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Ok it's fine when they say it in thai BUT the problem is when they say it in english. I guess most thais wouldn't know the meaning of "muscular" or would probably feel lazy to say it. They just transliterate it from thai to english which is fat and english speakers when they hear fat they think of the pot bellied person not the muscular one.

Another example of this transliteration i remember about was speaking to this thai on breasts and in thai they mean milk so they also say "milk" in english to refer to "breasts"

hha yeah i remebr i was <deleted> ome lady once and she said "my milk not big" hahaha.

[FritsSikkink]

LOL yes this happened to me, I showed a girl Phil Heath on stage, ~4% bodyfat, asked her if that's 'uan'. Reply was a resounding yes.

it means fat in thai right?

I mean there are burly and muscular thais around and fat ones too is it just that thai language does not distinguish between fat and muscular.

it does 2 different words

[StreetCowboy]

I wouldn't say Thai doesn't distinguish at all between fat and muscular, it just doesn't distinguish as well as English because Thai has much fewer words and shorter phrasing / sentences, and Thais try to say things in as few words as possible.

It means fat, but it's kind of a loose / flexible term, there would be other more technical ways of saying obese, high bodyfat etc. And you can call people 'uan' without them getting offended, it's casual, it's even a common nickname for people.

Because of that the word can be confused with anyone large in size.

Someone big would also be called 'dtua yai' (body large) or you'd say they had 'glaam yai' big muscles, or are a 'glaam boo' (muscle crab). Or other words.

But in some situations they'll just default to 'uan', which seems strange to us. Although I wouldn't take it to mean 'fat' in your case if clearly you are just large and muscular. If you pressed them further they'd explain they don't mean having high bodyfat or a protruding belly (specific word for that, sounds like 'pum poy')

Girls talk about 'uan kêun' (getting bigger) when they take the contraceptive pill, as another example. They are just referring to getting larger, as the pill is technically a steroid (testosterone), they're not saying they'll get a belly.

I'd say overall you're more likely to see girls defaulting to 'uan'. You're not going to get that from Thai males really, especially those that work out.

Interesting info, for I myself am overweight (and not muscular).

Btw, what does 'pui' mean in this context under discussion? I took it to mean 'fat', as in someone having a beer belly.

-------

Edit: I just realized that you discussed what I was inquiring about. The "pum poy" is actually "phom pui", which loosely translates to "I am fat.".

P.S. It is 'okay' for me to be overweight; I'm married.

My understanding was that Poom Pui meant 'fat' as in 'prosperous', or wallet.

There's nothing wrong with investing in a bit of blubber to see you through the winter, so long as you can maintain sufficient waist to stop your jeans slipping off and revealing a cheeky smile...

Remember, we evolved in an environment when you had to run to catch your prey, and you might not catch anything again for days or weeks... so as long as your fit enough to catch a 42 bus, don't worry what people say about your lard waistcoat

SC

[KhunBENQ]

My understanding was that Poom Pui meant 'fat' as in 'prosperous', or wallet.

I never noticed such a context.

I am quite sure it is just a polite form and comparable to "chubby".

If one tells that you are "ûan" than he says it in a direct/impolite way ("you are fat!").

A well fed pig is also "ûan".

So usually you will not hear that from the "working girls"

http://www.thai-language.com/id/211313

http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1371847.html

http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/fat.html