เทวดา ???

[Deserted]

SO, เทวดา- male angel? So ลูก เทวดา- is a 'spoilt brat' or is that too strong? Perhaps just spoilt child. So this is sarcasm in play here or what? I just came across the latter term today when I saw a news clipping on this site about a Chinese kid who tried to kill himself because he couldn't get a Big Mac, and was thus callled a ลูก เทวดา some etymological-orientated thoughts here are most welcome. 

[Chou Anou]

Yes, idiomatically, a spoiled child (person); a child whose parents bend over backwards for them and give them everything they want.  See http://th.uncyclopedia.info/wiki/ลูกเทวดา

 

เทวดา alone, however, does NOT translate to "angel"..."deity" is probably better.  The Christian concept of angel has nothing to do with what a เทวดา means in Thai cosmology, so better to avoid using the word at all.

[Deserted]

Ok, I got that from thai-language.com only, so your thoughts are most appreciated. A deity is different to an angel though in the christian interpretations of such, so I will look further. 

[Chou Anou]

4 hours ago, Deserted said:

Ok, I got that from thai-language.com only, so your thoughts are most appreciated. A deity is different to an angel though in the christian interpretations of such, so I will look further. 

Well, in Christian belief there's only one deity...in Thai, there are multiple ones (mostly imported from Hinduism).  The point is, it's always dangerous (not just concerning religion), and often unnecessarily frustrating, to look for an "exact equivalent" between terms across languages.

[Joosesis]

To the OPs first comment...   is เทวดา gendered to be only male?  I'm sure I've used it for both, but I'm often wrong.  

[Chou Anou]

47 minutes ago, Joosesis said:

To the OPs first comment...   is เทวดา gendered to be only male?  I'm sure I've used it for both, but I'm often wrong.  

Not gendered.

[tgeezer]

I like the idea of not making "exact equivalent" words so naturally refer to the RID. When two nouns are paired, generally the second modifies the first; ลูกท้วย, not a ceramic bowl but looks like one, not a child of a bowl either, ( electrical insulator: is that the type visible on power lines?) ลูกน้ำ ​a ลูก for sure but it could be anything born in water so it is defined as mosquito offspring still living in water, (lavae) .
So ลูกเทวดา is being used to describe a child. เทวดา are the only inhabitants of a place called สวรรค์ who have special abilities to see and hear and who eat special food, they are not like us! สวรรค์ can't be compared with heaven because Buddhist don't go there when they die. The word สวรรคต is apparently ceremonial language for a death of a person of high status, maybe they become เทวดา in the minds of mere mortals.
ลูดเทวดา is not a word in the RID so the best I can do is to say "child of เทวดา." He thinks that he is special.
Should the fact of him trying to kill himself be considered?
Does he think himself supernatural?

I don't think that เทวดา has anything to do with cosmology, maybe mythology.




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[Deserted]

Well, if this kid who tried to kill himself because he couldn't get a Big Mac and was forced to eat pizza instead, thinking that McDonalds is heavenly, perhaps there is some room for cosmology in the choosing of the word as reported. 

 

The male angel thing comes only from thai-language.com. It's probably nothing more than someone saw a picture of a boy in some clouds. I never used the word before, just stating what I found on line. 

[DavidHouston]

By way of background from Wikipedia https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/เทวดา_(ศาสนาพุทธ):

ตามคติความเชื่อในศาสนาพุทธ เทพ (บาลี: ;สันสกฤต: देव เทว) หมายถึงชาวสวรรค์ ถ้าเป็นเพศชายเรียกว่าเทพบุตร เพศหญิงเรียกว่าเทพธิดา

"In accordance with Buddhist beliefs, 'Thep' . . . means dwellers of heaven; if a male, he is called 'Theppabut'; if a female, she is called a 'Thepthida'."

[Deserted]

Thanks, that helps

[tgeezer]

By way of background from Wikipedia https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/เทวดา_(ศาสนาพุทธ):

ตามคติความเชื่อในศาสนาพุทธ เทพ (บาลี: ;สันสกฤต: देव เทว) หมายถึงชาวสวรรค์ ถ้าเป็นเพศชายเรียกว่าเทพบุตร เพศหญิงเรียกว่าเทพธิดา

"In accordance with Buddhist beliefs, 'Thep' . . . means dwellers of heaven; if a male, he is called 'Theppabut'; if a female, she is called a 'Thepthida'."

That is strange, if เทวดา had anything to do with Buddhism I would expect the RID to say so.


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[tgeezer]

I guess religion is a subject best left to individuals but I was chatting on i'net to a friend who said that เทวดา was a Hindu belief. Whatever, like all beliefs I expect that there will be many interpretations which can be used to divide people, best not to get involved.
An amusing aside, people call เทวดาธิดา นางฟ้า and stewardesses on Thai are jokingly called นางฟ้า !


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[weary]

Quote

สวรรค์ can't be compared with heaven because Buddhist don't go there when they die.

That's not entirely true. In Buddhism, สวรรค์ is a possible rebirth destination. Here is the lowdown on the 31 planes of existence in Buddhist Cosmology.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html

Edited August 8, 2017 by weary