I am looking for (hopefully transliterated) a phrase for that means BS

[matta330]

Hi.  Is there a Thai equivalent phrase to "that's a load of crap"? 

 

My wife keeps getting invited to MLM meetings and basically it is garbage, but I am having a hard time getting my point across. 

[Horatio Poke]

There are plenty of dismissive expressions that you could use.  They vary from polite and friendly to vulgar and confrontational.  If you don't speak any Thai I'd advise avoiding them all because you'd be inviting a discussion in Thai that you'd be unable to participate in. 

 

If you speak a little Thai I'd advise to sticking with something simple within your present range  i.e. "I think that it's a waste of time/money/effort/etc" and be prepared to defend your opinion from there.

[rak sa_ngop]

How about the expression  ตอแหล.  (difficult to write in English but  something like  "tdo le" )..

 

Means to lie or fib, but not too offensive.........I think.

[p_brownstone]

56 minutes ago, rak sa_ngop said:

How about the expression  ตอแหล.  (difficult to write in English but  something like  "tdo le" )..

 

Means to lie or fib, but not too offensive.........I think.

 

That expression is not really applicable to the situation the OP is facing, and it's actually offensive in most situations - the nearest meaning in English would be something like "you lying bastard" .

 

You could use ตอแหล, with local, close, Thai friends - for example if someone says "I drank a whole bottle of Johnny Walker last night and still felt great afterwards" you could respond with "ตอแหล" and it would not be considered an insult, just a joking response to an obvious exaggeration and the group would take it as that and laugh.

 

Use it in most other situations and prepare to duck under the table.

 

In my opinion a good way for the OP to make his point to his wife would be to include "ไม่ต้องเชื่อ" - "don't believe that" in his attempts to express his views.

 

Patrick

 

 

[Horatio Poke]

ตอแหล is the accepted translation for BS.  It's equally as vulgar as BS but is not as flexible in its meaning.  BS can mean "lies" or "nonsense/rubbish/garbage" (colloquially "rubbish/garbage", not literally).   ตอแหล is almost always used only for "lies" or as a fairly confrontational way of calling someone out as a liar.

There are better ways than the vulgar ตอแหล if you wish to call someone out as a liar.

 

I concur with p_brownstone's explanation of a playful use for ตอแหล but even so seek other less dangerous ways to be playful when speaking Thai.

[tgeezer]

ตอแหล can be found in the Thai dictionary where it is not classified grammatically except when referring to a fruit tree which produces an unusually early crop eg. มะเขือตอแหล
A good argument can be made for ตอแหล to be a noun which is not used in a sentence. Closer to 'bullshitter' than 'bullshit'.
The way people have experienced its use can give a better insight into what it means nowadays. I think that I have heard a Thai say "You bullshit' where I have reason to believe that they mean "You are a bullshitter", which makes me think that ตอแหล means exactly that.
The English I have seen says that it means 'To lie'. Which would mean that เขาตอแหลตลอด would be possible. Maybe it is and that would be the language adapting to conform (คอนฟอร์ม) to English!


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[Johnniey]

ตอแหล means bullshit as in telling lies. Not what the OP means.

 

ไร้สาระ would be better to get the correct meaning across.

[tgeezer]

The important thing is what does ตอแหล mean. Bullshit you see is the name given to utterances which are not true. Like lie, it can describe a person: bullshitter, also a noun, but is ตอแหล able to be used as the verb, to bullshit? He is bullshitting. You see, simply finding a Thai word for an English word is not enough, one needs to know how to use the Thai word too.


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[Johnniey]

16 hours ago, tgeezer said:

The important thing is what does ตอแหล mean. Bullshit you see is the name given to utterances which are not true. Like lie, it can describe a person: bullshitter, also a noun, but is ตอแหล able to be used as the verb, to bullshit? He is bullshitting. You see, simply finding a Thai word for an English word is not enough, one needs to know how to use the Thai word too.


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I disagree, the OP wants a word meaning a "heap of crap". I'm sure he doesn't care what  ตอแหล means. 

 

Btw, yes  ตอแหล is used as the verb. 

[tgeezer]

Thanks, I have just read his post. He mentions BS as having a meaning, but you are correct to point out that he actually wants "That's a load of crap". How about นั่นคือกองขี้ ?
Since for some strange reason ตอแหล has turned up and you say that it can be a verb, how about giving an example of its use as a verb?


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[rgs2001uk]

The question the OP asked is rendered meaning less, the OP dont speak Thai, and even if he speaks a little, his mrs will reply using language he cant understand, or will ignore him.

 

He doesnt need an exact translation for thats bullshit,  kee kwai.

 

He is trying to convey a feeling of dont believe.

 

ขี้โกง

 

โกหก

 

อย่าเชื่อ

 

are all phrases he could use, if he knows how to construct a sentence in Thai.

 

Not mentioned the difference between Thai taught in the schools, and the colloquial language used every day in the sois.

 

It doesnt matter whether its a verb or a noun, whats understood is between the person saying it and the person on the recieving end of the conversation.

 

Many times I have listened to Thais talking and although I undertsand what they are saying, I dont understand the context of the converstion.

 

ไปไม่ a question as simple as that, I have no idea of the tense, the people having the conversation do in context with what they are discussing.

[rgs2001uk]

If the OP is talking only to his mrs with no one else in earshot he could use this term,

 

หูเบา

 

Usually preceded with ee, meaning soft ear, or someone who is gullible, in this case his mrs.

 

Be very careful about using these expressions, it all depends on context and who you are talking to.

 

DO NOT use with strangers.

[farang95]

some reply are so right ... don't say rude stuff... even if it is to your wife.... the best you can do is to ask her 

 

i was thinking something like .... why are you going there.....i don't like theses people you meet ...... ภรรยาทําไมคุณชอบไปกับพวกเขา...ผมไม่ชอบ..ผมไม่เข้าใจทําไมคุณชอบไป...อยากเข้าใจ..ภรรยาผมอยากเข้าใจละทําไม 5555555555

 

ผมคิดพวกเขากวนตีนมาก kwanteen is often use for a bad attitude ...bad attitude of somebody .... kwaanteenกวนตีน ........

 

ทําไมไปวะพวกเขากาก  you can say it to your wife (but don't first you must know if she really appreciate them , if she don't care that much then you can definitely say it...it is a bit rude but she will 100% understand your mood about it )

[tgeezer]

I was interested in ตอแหล as a verb. As I said ตอแหล is in the dictionary, which may be out of date and since 'bullshit' was said to be its meaning wondered if johnnie knew something which I didn't, that perhaps we (English) had managed to teach native speakers something new.


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[tgeezer]

That is bullshit, is not Kee Kwai. It would be นั่นคือขี้วัวตัวผู้
edit: I read bull= วัวตัวผู้ yesterday in longdo then after posting today thought I must have remembered wrongly, surely if there is ตัวเมีย the male must be ตัวผัว checked again and found that no, ตัวผู้ was correct. However the RID omits ตัว : bull= วัวผู้ .

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[matta330]

I appreciate all of the help here, I can speak a bit of Thai, but not able to really read much yet.  On one hand my wife's English is much improved, and she sort of understands what I am saying, but I would like to have a Thai phrase for emphasis.  As was mentioned above, I really want to say something along the lines of "they are feeding you a load of crap."  What I really mean is I want her to stay away from MLMs, but they are all over the place and many of her friends sell useless stuff from different MLMs.

[rijb]

You should also learn the phrase "yes, dear" ... just in case.

[matta330]

4 minutes ago, rijb said:

You should also learn the phrase "yes, dear" ... just in case.

She understands that in English.

[Johpa]

A long time ago in another type of online forum no longer in existence, I use to identify myself as "Johpa Bulshittalotta.

 

ตอแหล  should be avoided at all costs unless you feel pretty competent in Thai and evaluating Thai social scenarios.

 

หูเบา  (huu bao) refers to the listener and not the speaker, but is a very polite way of saying someone is gullible.  Thais will nod approvingly when a Farang uses this term correctly.

 

ไม่ต้องเชื่อ I normally hear this expressed as  ไม่หน้าเชื่อ (mai naa chua) which brings us closer as to why there is no real good term akin to BS in Thai as using the term implies creating a loss of face for the speaker, and that is a culturally inappropriate act unless you are looking for trouble. 

 

 

[tgeezer]

ไม่น่าเชื่อ

Since you mention it, calling his wife หูเบา might be very effective.



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[tgeezer]

ไม่น่าเชื่อ

Since you mention it, calling his wife หูเบา might be very effective.



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[1FinickyOne]

I would go with something that expresses the idea that it is a lot of work, not easy to sell the product and very few people have profit...

 

I would address this on a business level as it is not exactly a lie or BS - it is just usually a bad deal... 

 

tamngan mahk, gamrie noy... 

[matta330]

15 hours ago, kenk24 said:

I would go with something that expresses the idea that it is a lot of work, not easy to sell the product and very few people have profit...

 

I would address this on a business level as it is not exactly a lie or BS - it is just usually a bad deal... 

 

tamngan mahk, gamrie noy... 

Thank you.  I think that is exactly what I am looking for.

[1FinickyOne]

11 minutes ago, matta330 said:

Thank you.  I think that is exactly what I am looking for.

 

Hi Matta - I think one of the fun parts of translating Thai is solving the puzzle or riddle - - which often times means using entirely different phrases that get the idea across in words or idioms that they use... which are not comparable to English... and besides, I think I had this same conversation with my wife many years ago. It is tough when they are told something is an exciting idea and they can make lots of money and you know through experience that it is a load of crap... good luck. 

[CaptHaddock]

Although not what the OP is looking for, the phrase  อย่าแถ, which means "stop bullshitting me," would seem to have widespread application in Thailand.  However, it's rude, although I am not sure just how rude. 

[phuketsub]

It seems there is no precise translation, but many Thais (especially bar girls) are familiar with the term

bullshit (both as noun and verb) and use it quite liberally, much in the same way farang newcomers overuse the term 'ting tong'

[Johnniey]

On 9/30/2016 at 8:18 PM, tgeezer said:

Thanks, I have just read his post. He mentions BS as having a meaning, but you are correct to point out that he actually wants "That's a load of crap". How about นั่นคือกองขี้ ?
Since for some strange reason ตอแหล has turned up and you say that it can be a verb, how about giving an example of its use as a verb?


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เท่าที่รู้จักกันมาเธอไม่ใช่คนที่ชอบโกหกตอแหลใคร

[tgeezer]

Fair enough; longdo example, but it contradicts the RID definition on the same page. I wonder how good the T-E dictionaries are and how good we need to be to understand them.
Look at เท่าที่ for instance, there are two examples of เท่าที่ CONJ. , ADV. and they fit into the examples where one would expect. Then we get E-T เท่าที่ (IDM {I don't know what that means. } ) เท่าทีรู้จักกันเธอไม่ใช่คนที่โกหกตอแหลใคร as far as we are aware you are not one who lies to anybody.
Which looks like English -Thai to me.
I am sure to what extent the language has changed so the problem I have is how reflective of modern Thai are these dictionaries? Naturally these dictionaries are all people have to go on when translating English into Thai which probably accounts for ตอแหล being a verb rather than a word of admonishment like "bullshit" .

I say that I am unsure not that I know that I am right.
Does anybody know?
"As far as I know" is an expression used in English to absolve the speaker of responsibility it modifies the statement, it seems odd that Thai should use the same expression and choose to use that modifier/qualifier at the beginning of that sentence as if it were English, perhaps it is English!



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[Johnniey]

1 hour ago, tgeezer said:

Fair enough; longdo example, but it contradicts the RID definition on the same page. I wonder how good the T-E dictionaries are and how good we need to be to understand them.
Look at เท่าที่ for instance, there are two examples of เท่าที่ CONJ. , ADV. and they fit into the examples where one would expect. Then we get E-T เท่าที่ (IDM {I don't know what that means. } ) เท่าทีรู้จักกันเธอไม่ใช่คนที่โกหกตอแหลใคร as far as we are aware you are not one who lies to anybody.
Which looks like English -Thai to me.
I am sure to what extent the language has changed so the problem I have is how reflective of modern Thai are these dictionaries? Naturally these dictionaries are all people have to go on when translating English into Thai which probably accounts for ตอแหล being a verb rather than a word of admonishment like "bullshit" .

I say that I am unsure not that I know that I am right.
Does anybody know?
"As far as I know" is an expression used in English to absolve the speaker of responsibility it modifies the statement, it seems odd that Thai should use the same expression and choose to use that modifier/qualifier at the beginning of that sentence as if it were English, perhaps it is English!



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Interesting post. I would translate เท่าทีรู้จักกัน as "it is (well)known that", " as far as I'm concerned" rather than , "as far as I know"

 

[tgeezer]

I read the English from lexicon for เท่าที่.
I agree with you I think, รู้กัน shows that the subject of the verb is plural and I think that the translation depends on what context we construct for it.




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