Thai language forum

Funny, true, language story

MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

I was getting a massage when this anglo guy came in. In Muk, most of the massage places are just rooms with mattresses on the floor - low tech, low cost options. I'm getting my massage and the guy who comes in is a tourist. Now God bless him, he's trying to learn the language. Kudos for that, as he's a transient and a lot of people don't think it's worth the trouble for a month or so. Anyway, the girl asks him, in broken English:

"Do you like girl Thai?"
He answers:
"Pu Ying... Thai... Aroi."
The girl starts laughing so hard, she can't stop. I asked the guy if he knows what he just said.
"Yeah, that Thai girls are beautiful."
I said "No. You just said that Thai girls are tasty."
Just hillarious. Every time I go into that place and see that girl I say to that girl "Pu Ying Thai Aroi!"

#1 Posted: 19/10/2010 - 17:48

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Victory in Pattani
idreamofdur-
ian

som tam seller
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That's funny. I wonder if he's been telling the ladies at the market that their larb is beautiful?

#2 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 04:17

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idreamofdurian.com - the bloggings of a Canadian girl in Asia long-term
neosho

adventurer
Posts: 307

That's funny. Someday over a beer I'll tell you how I learned the Thai word "key".

#3 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 07:53
sayadian

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It's a tough language to get right.
If you say beautiful in the wrong tone it becomes bad luck.
'You are bad luck!!
and 'far' becomes 'near'.etc
I think freshly cooked rice is called beautiful so maybe it IS ok to call a girl delicious, after all many of them are ;-)

#4 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 14:48

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money frees you from doing things you dislike,since I dislike doing nearly everything money is handy'
sayadian

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oh yeh and don't forget
'riding a horse'.
getting that wrong can get a few hoots of laughter.

#5 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 14:49

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money frees you from doing things you dislike,since I dislike doing nearly everything money is handy'
MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

Yep, you could be riding a dog pretty easily there.

But no, saying a woman is tasty (Aroi) is not something a Thai would say. I'm sure of that, as all my Thai friends love this story for it's humor.

#6 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 15:57

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Victory in Pattani
sayadian

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or asking for some dog dirt, or telling everybody you need a toilet fast!
I expect the learner you heard was directly tranaslating 'a dishy girl.'
I just hope he hasn't been put off learning and trying more.The Thais don't really have much patience with learners which I find really funny considering the atrocious English I've heard from Thai people.
I once met a lady at a bus station somewhere in Isan who was keen for me to speak to her daughter who was, as she proudly explained,Head of the English Dept at the local school.
She phoned her and handed me the phone.It was one of the most embarassing moments I've had in Thailand.I couldn't understand a word she said.Now I know why the English spoken by school kids is usually so atrocious.

#7 Posted: 20/10/2010 - 20:15

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money frees you from doing things you dislike,since I dislike doing nearly everything money is handy'
neosho

adventurer
Posts: 307

I love the literal translations. I read in a book that the word for masterbation translates out to "5 against one". :)

#8 Posted: 21/10/2010 - 07:39
AjarnPasa

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Oh dear, how did we get onto masturbation so quickly?!

But in the spirit of inter-cultural understanding, if you are going to Thailand you should be aware that for a boy the literal translation is 'To fly a kite' [chák wâao] and for a girl it's 'to go line fishing' [dtòk bèt]. Or for the unisex version: 'to help yourself' [chûay dtua ayng].

All of the above phrases are of course used to convey their literal meanings too, so hilarity can often ensue when a Farang decides to slip one out ... erm ... so to speak.

There are lots of fun idiomatic phrases. Perhaps a post on the more common ones should be on the cards.

#9 Posted: 21/10/2010 - 21:56

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Short, timely, thematic lessons in Thai
MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

How about Snake Snake Fish Fish - that's a weird idiom if there ever was one.

#10 Posted: 21/10/2010 - 22:49

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Victory in Pattani
UsTwo

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Posts: 39
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Ok, Madmac...My younger brother and his Thai wife will be visiting us soon. My wife gets on really well with her, and I am pretty fond of her, too. How do we welcome her in her language?

#11 Posted: 22/10/2010 - 18:57
MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

I spell everything pheonetically, but even so, you'll only get the ballpark pronunciation right because English does not accomodate tone variation.

Hello:
For you - Savadee Khrap
For your wife - Savadee Ka

If you wish to ask her how she's feeling "Savadee Mai Khrap" (Ka for the wife).

If she Wai's you and you wish to return the greeting, place the hands together as if in prayer, then place them in front of and below you face - I usually have the tips of my fingers level with the point of my nose, and then nod my head once downward, ever so slightly.

#12 Posted: 23/10/2010 - 01:06

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Victory in Pattani
AjarnPasa

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Please excuse me wading in here, but just a couple of tiny tweaks to MADMAC's transliterations.

First, there is no V sound in Thai. For some reason the W sound is occasionally (erroneously) represented as a V.

A greeting should be Sa-wat-dee krap/ka. Krap for a man saying the greeting, ka for a woman saying the greeting.

How are you is Sa-bai-dee mai krap/ka. The answer in the affirmative is sa-bai-dee krap/ka, a negative answer is mai sa-bai krap/ka

Try copying and pasting this สวัสด๊ครับ and สวัสดีค่ะ and สบายดีไหม into [url=http://www.thai-language.com/dict]http://www.thai-language.com/dict where there are sound files for each.

#13 Posted: 23/10/2010 - 17:11

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Short, timely, thematic lessons in Thai
MADMAC

mahout
Posts: 3999

Ajarn Pasa is technically correct. At least where I live, the common pronunciation for the "วั" sound is a combination, sort of like Sawvadee - almost like we have the DT sound as well. But yes, I agree with his points.

#14 Posted: 23/10/2010 - 17:22

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Victory in Pattani
UsTwo

flashpacker
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Thanks, both.
That Thai language site is terrific - I've bookmarked it, and will be studying it.

#15 Posted: 23/10/2010 - 17:24
AjarnPasa

motodop
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UsTwo

You might like this forum post on small talk too:

[url=http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11685_small-talk]http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/learnthai/11685_small-talk

#16 Posted: 23/10/2010 - 20:06

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Short, timely, thematic lessons in Thai
gstallones

newbie
Posts: 1

And be careful how you ask for a bannana :)

#17 Posted: 8/6/2011 - 01:01
9preciousGe-
ms

tourist
Posts: 57

i dont know the spelling at all but had some fun times on phi phi with some locals once

it went something like "Chang let - mai de. Chang yai - phon loy!"

(Small Chang - no good. Big Chang - ok!)

Happy to be corrected on the phrasing/spelling btw

#18 Posted: 8/6/2011 - 22:37
AjarnPasa

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Chang lek, mai dee
Chang yai, pon luhy

Small Chang, no good.
Big Chang. Result!

... is a pretty good translation.

And anyone whose had the pleasure can surely attest. ;)

#19 Posted: 18/3/2012 - 08:45

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Short, timely, thematic lessons in Thai
neosho

adventurer
Posts: 307

Madmac
I learned key the hard way too. Sometimes the wife's english skills aren't that good either. We were sharing a bag of Lays chips the other day and she said that Lays has spicy "she-it". You can imagine the conversation that insued. She was trying to say cheese.

#20 Posted: 18/3/2012 - 21:52
9preciousGe-
ms

tourist
Posts: 57

haha thanks!

#21 Posted: 19/3/2012 - 04:23
theChosenOne

backpacker
Posts: 12

I hope the guy in the massage place was not put off. In the west if someone laughs at you it is almost always offensive. Not so much here.

#22 Posted: 26/3/2012 - 23:42