- Teenage Slang Thread - ภาษาวัยรุ่น - Gek Lor

[farangnahrak]

I think "อินเตอร์" would be a more accurate transcription for "inter(national)".

At a wild guess, I would say that "เอ็น" is a short form of "เอ็นดู".

oops, I meant to spell อิน

(my guess still stands)

As for เอ็นดู, thats only for babies and puppies, hardly the category of a tatoo'd farang . . .

[SoftWater]

As for เอ็นดู, thats only for babies and puppies, hardly the category of a tatoo'd farang . . .

I think you'll find (note the tone of humility and being open to the possibility of being wrong, a useful bit of forum etiquette you might want to pick up even when you're 100% sure you're right ) that that is not quite correct, tho' I wouldn't want to suggest I'm anywhere near as expert in the Thai language as you clearly are .

Edited March 4, 2010 by SoftWater

[farangnahrak]

As for เอ็นดู, thats only for babies and puppies, hardly the category of a tatoo'd farang . . .

... that is not quite correct, tho' I wouldn't want to suggest I'm anywhere near as expert in the Thai language as you clearly are .

Well, I realized when I wrote it that it was perhaps an oversimplification . . . but was too lazy to look up a proper definition . . . I said it more jokingly than anything, just forgot the smiley tongue face thats all!

That said, this book is filled with teenager slang:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080484053...ASIN=0804840539

I just finished reading it 2 months ago . . . tons of useful stuff I didn't know before, but the author can't spell Thai worth his life (a Thai spelling mistake on every other page, not counting English and Karaoke mistakes). I still recommend it, though . . .

[Baa_Mango]

seems like a funny book, would like to flip through it to see if this guy is for real or what.. avail in bkk?

[dseawarrior]

anyway back to slangy stuff, you guys ever hear เสี่ยวจ๊าบลาว ? Kinda like saying someone is not cool, their style is LAO..

Not that particular phrase. But calling something Lao, in Thai, is a bit insulting . . . for example:

หน้าดูลาวมากเลย (his face is ugly like a Laotian)

นั่นคือลาวเลย (thats sooooo Lao)

อย่าทำแบบลาวว่ะ (don't be so f'ing Lao, ok?)

(I made up those examples on the spot, so perhaps a grammatical mistake or two, but you get the idea)

ps - In the first example, if I swap Lao for Korean, it'd be taken as a huge compliment.

Perhaps หน้าลาว(มาก), โคตรลาว, หน้าเสี่ยว

However, I would not use these terms as they are degrading to the wonderful Lao -- and Isaan -- people. (The reference is not only limited to Laotians.) And Thai superiority complex hardly needs more encouragement.

Last year I was on the selection committee and interviewed Thai youth candidates to join a youth cross-cultural exchange program (joined by selected youths from 10 SEA countries). One of the questions I asked was on this kind of reference (as successful candidates will inevitably mingle with Lao youth). The answers were interesting.

Excellent post and spot on insight regarding how some (many? most?) Thais regard Lao and kon baan-awk (folks who they think lack big city sophistication, etc.)...

Great website you have there, too! Many thanks!

D

[bifftastic]

anyway back to slangy stuff, you guys ever hear เสี่ยวจ๊าบลาว ? Kinda like saying someone is not cool, their style is LAO..

Not that particular phrase. But calling something Lao, in Thai, is a bit insulting . . . for example:

หน้าดูลาวมากเลย (his face is ugly like a Laotian)

นั่นคือลาวเลย (thats sooooo Lao)

อย่าทำแบบลาวว่ะ (don't be so f'ing Lao, ok?)

(I made up those examples on the spot, so perhaps a grammatical mistake or two, but you get the idea)

ps - In the first example, if I swap Lao for Korean, it'd be taken as a huge compliment.

Perhaps หน้าลาว(มาก), โคตรลาว, หน้าเสี่ยว

However, I would not use these terms as they are degrading to the wonderful Lao -- and Isaan -- people. (The reference is not only limited to Laotians.) And Thai superiority complex hardly needs more encouragement.

Last year I was on the selection committee and interviewed Thai youth candidates to join a youth cross-cultural exchange program (joined by selected youths from 10 SEA countries). One of the questions I asked was on this kind of reference (as successful candidates will inevitably mingle with Lao youth). The answers were interesting.

Slightly off topic (sorry) but would these terms vary depending on where in Thailand you were? When I stayed in Chiang Saen many of the family have Lao roots so I would imagine saying 'don't be so Lao' might not be said so much? When we went to Laos (only for a couple of hours admittedly) it was noticeable that the Thai visitors were seen as more affluent visitors, possibly because the new (huge) Chinese casino/hotel complex was ferrying people over to a small market for free (on the condition that you went to the casino as well!)

Is it similar to in the UK when 'being Irish' used to have similar connotations?

[kaewmala]

...

Perhaps หน้าลาว(มาก), โคตรลาว, หน้าเสี่ยว

However, I would not use these terms as they are degrading to the wonderful Lao -- and Isaan -- people. (The reference is not only limited to Laotians.) And Thai superiority complex hardly needs more encouragement. ...

Slightly off topic (sorry) but would these terms vary depending on where in Thailand you were? When I stayed in Chiang Saen many of the family have Lao roots so I would imagine saying 'don't be so Lao' might not be said so much? When we went to Laos (only for a couple of hours admittedly) it was noticeable that the Thai visitors were seen as more affluent visitors, possibly because the new (huge) Chinese casino/hotel complex was ferrying people over to a small market for free (on the condition that you went to the casino as well!)

Is it similar to in the UK when 'being Irish' used to have similar connotations?

As you would imagine Laotians or people with cultural affinity to them would not be using the epithets that denigrate themselves or their own. It is mostly people in Bangkok and large urban centers who are far enough removed from rural culture or young and foolish fashionista-wannabes (and that amount to lots of people) who tend to use such language.

Obviously Thais, even the relatively poor ones, are "affluent" when compared to Laotians. What many(most?) Thais seem oblivious to is that the Laotians do not exactly hold us in high regard despite our "wealth" and "higher development." They may not wear fashionable clothes, drive fancy cars or have fake noses like us Thais, but they are not stupid, or blind. They know very well how Thais make fun of them. They watch Thai TV and can see all the epithets in the TV soaps and inane shows featuring "Lao" buffoons.

There was a historical usage of the term "Lao", in the old days when there wasn't yet a unified Siam and later Thailand as we know it today (barely a century ago) Bangkok people referred to anyone from "up north" which included not only Isaan but also Lanna, as "Lao" -- and that connoted inferiority and backwardness.

Time changes things, but something is hard to change.

[kaewmala]

Sorry if I've been a party pooper in this thread. To repent, here's something that I promise will not kill joy.

Crash landing

(kin) hÊEw (slang, v.) (กิน)แห้ว (แสลง, ก.)

sà-dÈEw hÊEw (slang, v.) สะแด่วแห้ว (แสลง, ก.)

chûat (slang, v.) ชวด (แสลง, ก.)

jìip mâi tìt (informal, v.) จีบไม่ติด (ปาก, ก.)

phìt wǎng (v.) ผิดหวัง (ก.)

Tom’s crushing failure to win Apple’s heart is pitiful.

Sympathetic onlookers comment that Tom has to kin hÊEw,

“eat a water chestnut.” I don’t know exactly why, but to eat

a water chestnut means “to swallow disappointment.” The

slang term is sometimes shortened to just hÊEw.

Tom goes home defeated, lamenting the ill fate that

leaves him to eat one hÊEw after another. He fails, only

to return to his nest “empty-handed” (chûat) again. A few

kind-hearted Thai friends want to teach him another Thai

lesson. They say, “Tom, you know that you were just dissed

by Apple and we call that sà-dÈEw hÊEw.” They tell him

that it’s the same thing as “eating a water chasenut” but

with a little more zing. Yeah, more zing alright, Tom grinds

his teeth quietly.

Tom is wondering what he’s doing wrong. News spreads

that Tom jìip Apple mâi tìt; that is to say, Tom’s “flirtation

doesn’t stick” (jìip mâi tìt) with Apple. His flirtation rolls off

her like water rolling off the back of a Teflon duck. Tom

feels understandably “disappointed” (phìt wǎng).

(from sextalk, p. 113).