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[loong]

Don't know how to input Thai characters, any way probably take forever.

One of my favourites is

See saw hai kwai fung

Literally "play violin for buffalo to hear"
meaning (good advice) falls on death ears

Another one not to use if you want to stay alive is

Poo ying sooay dtair mai homm ( beautiful lady , but doesn't smell too good)
This is very insulting means good looking but VERY bad.

I used this expression once when under the influence and a bit confused. The girl I'd addressed was NOT best pleased. However all the Thais in earshot absolutely erupted. They thought it really funny to hear a Farang use such a phrase. The next day the story was all round the village and nearly everyone I met laughed and repeated it to me.

[Som Nam Na]

I was told the other day that....

Naa neu jai suar young tur (face, body, heart of the tiger) from the bird+seksun song meant "she is 2 faced".

I then asked what does "Tur naa song" mean and he said "2 faced".

anyone confirm this?

[jtb]

snowleopard, on Mon 2004-07-19, 21:19:38, said:

RamdomChances, on Mon 2004-07-19, 12:33:55, said:

Anyone esle know any thai sayings and their meanings?

Hi again Random Chances.
It seems to be slipping into a coma so I'll try to resuscitate this wonderful thread with a little idiomatic CPR!
Here's another batch of Thai sayings!

1.ขอแรงหน่อย=ko raeng noi=Give me a hand please.
2.ช่างมัน=chahng man=Let it be./Leave it like it is./Don't disturb.
3.ชั่งหัวมัน=chang hua man=Never mind./Don't worry./Doesn't matter.
4.ยิ่งเร็วยิ่งดี=ying reow ying dee=The sooner the better.
5.คอยด้วยความตั้งใจ=koy doo-ay kwam dtang jai=Look forward to it.
6.ยิงที่เดียวได้นกสองตัว=ying tee dee-oh dai nok sorng dtoa=Kill two birds with only one stone.


Cheers.
Snowleopard.

Hmmmmm.......... just tried dropping 'Chang hua man' into an sms to TGF and got into deep trouble. "Never say that! Not polite" Can anyone enlighten me as to the true meaning of this phrase?

[Boon Mee]

Nothing wrong with ช่งหวม้น Chang Hua Man - use it all the time w/educated Thais etc. It's accepted speech...

[the scouser]

I just happened to be looking at Snow Leopard's post containing "chang hua man" when my wife started wittering on about nothing in particular. I responded with the phrase much to her amusement. Nowt wrong with it.

Scouse.

[the scouser]

Hi Som Nam Na,

It's possible to say "khon sorng naa - คนสองหน้า" - 2-faced. A similar phrase is "nok sorng hua - นกสองหัว" which roughly translates as meaning an untrustworthy person.

Scouse.

[bannork]

A good one for two- faced is หน้าไหว้หลังหลอก naa wai lang lork-pay respects in front or to the face, but behind deceive or cheat.
bannork.

[snowleopard]

the scouser, on Tue 2004-09-21, 18:57:17, said:

I just happened to be looking at Snow Leopard's post containing "chang hua man" when my wife started wittering on about nothing in particular. I responded with the phrase much to her amusement. Nowt wrong with it.

Scouse.

Using it shouldnt cause any retribution in most settings.

It's a synonym for ช่างมัน "chaang mun" which lots of people use frequently.


ชั่งหัวมัน "chang hua mun"= It doesn't matter; never mind; no matter; don't worry etc.

A couple of antonyms to the above expressions would be...

1. แยแส "yae sae"
2.ใส่ใจ "sai jai"

Cheers.
Snowleopard.

[Neeranam]

What about "gaw chang" - don't care

ก็ชช่าง ?

[snowleopard]

Neeranam, on Wed 2004-09-29, 11:44:26, said:

What about "gaw chang" - don't care

ก็ชช่าง      ?

Hi Neeranam,

It should be spelt ก็ช่าง "goh chaang" but the meaning is NOT "don't care"!

The meaning of ก็ช่าง "goh chaang" is like the English "accordingly".

Cheers.
Snowleopard.

[maitembot]

jayenram, on Mon 2004-07-26, 09:22:37, said:

My favourite is:

Mai tem baht = not the full shilling

I never liked that 'full' feeling

[Neeranam]

Quote

Hi Neeranam, 

It should be spelt ก็ช่าง "goh chaang" but the meaning is NOT "don't care"! 

The meaning of ก็ช่าง "goh chaang" is like the English "accordingly". 

Cheers. 
Snowleopard.

Sure Snow?
I gotthat out of a book.

Neeranam

[bannork]

Neeranam,
You're right, ก็ช่าง means'let it be','so be it ' ,'accordingly' can have a negative ring in a formal sense,though it's rarely used by native speakers nowadays .
He was lazy, accordinglyhe failed his exams. Here accordingly means 'so' in the sense he deserved it, no need to do anything about it.
Snowleopard is wrong, ก็ช่าง we learn everyday.
Yours,
bannork.

[snowleopard]

bannork, on Fri 2004-10-01, 22:10:31, said:

Neeranam,
You're right, ก็ช่าง means'let it be','so be it ' ,'accordingly'  can have a negative ring in a formal sense,though it's rarely used by native speakers nowadays .
He was lazy, accordinglyhe failed his exams. Here accordingly means 'so' in the sense he deserved it, no need to do anything about it.
Snowleopard is wrong, ก็ช่าง we learn everyday.
Yours,
bannork.

Quote

Snowleopard is wrong, ก็ช่าง we learn everyday.

Hold your horses there,you... "hicks from the sticks"!
(i.e. cowhands out in "barn-nok")
I'd say that the best translation for ก็ช่าง "goh chang" in this Thai sentence is "accordingly"!
ผลการเจรจาในครั้งนี้จะเป็นอย่างไรก็ช่าง พวกเขาไม่สนใจเลย เพราะไม่ได้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในเรื่องนี้
Do you have a better one to offer there?

Neeranam,

Sometimes ก็ช่าง "goh chang" can be translated as "never mind".

Cheers.
Snowleopard.

[TRIPxCORE]

One that I often hear when seeing a man taking a woman shopping is, "Nee la ka tao lai krap?"

Hehehehe....just kidding.

[bannork]

Snowleopard,
I would say the best translation of your sentence would be-
'They are not interested in the outcome of the present discussions/negotiations as they have no vested interests at stake'
If we translate it following the Thai sequence of words-
' The outcome of the present/ongoing talks will be WHATEVER, they are not interested as they have no vested interests at stake.'
This clearly sounds clumsy in English and could be improved by substituting 'will be whatever' by 'are irrelevant to them as they...'
I'm sorry, I just don't see how you can use 'accordingly' in your example
2 more examples of 'accordingly'-
'dress accordingly', ie dress appropriately
'The Thai language website degenerated into a discussion about the use of English words, accordingly, 99% of the viewers were bored to tears.'
Time to attend to the cows,
yours,
bannork. อยู่บ้านนอกของเราดีกว่า......

[meadish_sweetball]

I agree with Bannork and his interpretation here. In your quoted example, Snowleopard, the "ก็ช่าง" could be replaced with "ก็ตาม" which is more frequently used in writing.

[snowleopard]

[quote name='bannork' date='Sun 2004-10-03, 16:28:31']Snowleopard,
I would say the best translation of your sentence would be-
'They are not interested  in the outcome of the present discussions/negotiations as they have no vested interests at stake'
If we translate it following the Thai sequence of words-
' The outcome of the present/ongoing talks will be WHATEVER, they are not interested as they have no vested interests at stake.'
This clearly sounds clumsy in English and could be improved by substituting 'will be whatever' by 'are irrelevant to them as they...'
I'm sorry, I just don't see how you can use 'accordingly' in your example
2 more examples of 'accordingly'-
'dress accordingly', ie dress appropriately
'The Thai language website degenerated into a discussion about the use of English words, accordingly, 99% of the viewers were bored to tears.'
Time to attend to the cows,
yours,
bannork. อยู่บ้านนอกของเราดีกว่า......[/quote]
[quote]ผลการเจรจาในครั้งนี้จะเป็นอย่างไรก็ช่าง พวกเขาไม่สนใจเลย เพราะไม่ได้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในเรื่องนี้[/quote][quote]I'm sorry, I just don't see how you can use 'accordingly' in your example[/quote]

Hi there Bannork,

How about using "accordingly" like this? ...Behold!

"Because they have nothing at stake,they are accordingly not interested in the negotiations and we are unsure of what the outcome will be this time."
ผลการเจรจาในครั้งนี้จะเป็นอย่างไรก็ช่าง พวกเขาไม่สนใจเลย เพราะไม่ได้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในเรื่องนี้

Now you see?

[quote]'dress accordingly', ie dress appropriately[/quote]Sorry!You're wrong there Bannork."Appropriately" is no synonym for "accordingly"

Synonyms for appropriately=1.acceptably,2.adequately,3.amply,4.becomingly,5.fittingly,
6.properly,7.right,8.satisfactorily,9.suitably

Synonyms for accordingly=1.consequently,2. ergo,3. hence,4. so,5. then,
6.thereupon,7 thus;
(Idioms) 8.by reason of that 9.by reason of this,10. for that reason,
11. for this reason

[quote]อยู่บ้านนอกของเราดีกว่า......[/quote]

ผมมีบ้านสามหลังอยู่แล้ว จึงไม่สนใจซื้อหลังนั้นที่เธอจะขายในชนบท

Cheers.
Snowleopard

[RDN]

I either heard or read this somewhere recently, and cannot for the life of me remember where. But the phrase was "Waen Kham": เวร กรรม which I interpret as "Karma turns", similar to "Som nam naa" - serves you right.

Can someone confirm this, and would it be OK to use in place of "Som nam naa"?


Edit:
What a wally! Sorry - it was on this very forum that I saw it! Stupid boy! Please ignore the above!

If only I could find some red-faced smileys...

Edited by RDN, 2004-10-03 23:20:48.

[snowleopard]

RDN, on Sun 2004-10-03, 23:14:17, said:

I either heard or read this somewhere recently, and cannot for the life of me remember where. But the phrase was "Waen Kham": เวร กรรม which I interpret as "Karma turns", similar to "Som nam naa" - serves you right.

Can someone confirm this, and would it be OK to use in place of "Som nam naa"?

Check out this thread!

http://www.thaivisa....showtopic=17081

Cheers.
Snowleopard.

[RDN]

snowleopard, on Sun 2004-10-03, 23:20:28, said:

Checkout this thread!

http://www.thaivisa....showtopic=17081

Cheers.
Snowleopard.

You're too quick for me, Snowey!!

[bannork]

Snowleopard,
In your sentence, ก้ช่าง is with ผลการเจรจา not with พวกเขา so if you use 'accordingly' there the sentence is 'the results went accordingly' which means according to plan,but the point in your sentence is they don't care about the outcome of the talks so you have to say'whatever the outcome' or 'regardless of the outcome', not 'accordingly.
I'm surprised you don't accept 'appropriately' as a substitute for 'accordingly' in the sentence 'dress accordingly'; you list 'suitably' and 'fittingly' as synomyns, I would argue native speakers could certainly include 'appropriately ' in that category.
Yours,
bannork.

[caughtintheact]

Try this one:
1. In a bar when the girls are mobbing you for drinks
2. When you are having a fight with the wife/gf
3. You just want have a laugh

อย่ารบกวนคนที่ไม่ครบ

[Neeranam]

Quote

Neeranam,
You're right, ก็ช่าง means'let it be','so be it ' ,'accordingly' can have a negative ring in a formal sense,though it's rarely used by native speakers nowadays .
He was lazy, accordinglyhe failed his exams. Here accordingly means 'so' in the sense he deserved it, no need to do anything about it.
Snowleopard is wrong, ก็ช่าง we learn everyday.
Yours,
bannork.

I asked my Thai friend who said that it means something like 'who gives a ######'.
Not to be used when not sure. An example may be if someone whom you hated died in an accident.

[snowleopard]

[quote name='bannork' date='Mon 2004-10-04, 15:14:51']Snowleopard,
In your sentence, ก้ช่าง is with ผลการเจรจา not with พวกเขา so if you use 'accordingly' there the sentence is 'the results went accordingly' which means according to plan,but the point in your sentence is they don't care about the outcome of the talks so you have to say'whatever the outcome' or 'regardless of the outcome', not 'accordingly.
I'm surprised you don't accept 'appropriately' as a substitute for 'accordingly' in the sentence 'dress accordingly'; you list 'suitably' and 'fittingly' as synomyns, I would argue  native speakers  could certainly include 'appropriately ' in that category.
Yours,
bannork.[/quote]
[quote]"Because they have nothing at stake,they are accordingly not interested in the negotiations and we are unsure of what the outcome will be this time."
ผลการเจรจาในครั้งนี้จะเป็นอย่างไรก็ช่าง พวกเขาไม่สนใจเลย เพราะไม่ได้มีส่วนได้ส่วนเสียในเรื่องนี้[/quote][quote]Snowleopard,in your sentence, ก้ช่าง is with ผลการเจรจา not with พวกเขา[/quote]

Bannork,
Firstly,you cannot use your concept of an English sentence and then apply it directly onto a Thai counterpart.
There are no commas,question marks and such.
You know very well from your previous post how awkward a direct translation would become.
Secondly,"accordingly" is an adverb so it cannot modify "พวกเขา=they",which is a pronoun.

Now,I will take some time and try to explain my translation.
You don't have to agree with anything;and,frankly,I don't care whether you do or not but just bear with me awhile,will you?
One of the keywords in my sentence is "AND".
Let's divide the sentence into three parts and fill in some omitted parts which I felt would have made it tautological and accordingly left out.

1.Because they have nothing at stake,_2.they are accordingly not interested in the negotiations (and)_3.we are accordingly unsure of what the outcome of the negotiations will be this time.

If you join 2 and 3 with an "AND",do you really need to use both "accordingly" and "negotiations"twice?

If you analyzed the whole sentence,what would your conclusion be?
The Thai sentence is confirmed as accurate.I think my analysis and translation is okay too.Some colleagues and students whom I've shown it to agree as well.

[quote]I'm surprised you don't accept 'appropriately' as a substitute for 'accordingly' in the sentence 'dress accordingly'; you list 'suitably' and 'fittingly' as synomyns, I would argue  native speakers  could certainly include 'appropriately ' in that category[/quote]I listed "fittingly" and "suitably" as synonyms for "appropriately",NOT for "accordingly"!
To avoid confusion,let's quote my post with the synonyms again,shall we?
[quote]Synonyms for appropriately=1.acceptably,2.adequately,3.amply,4.becomingly,5.fittingly,
6.properly,7.right,8.satisfactorily,9.suitably
Synonyms for accordingly=1.consequently,2. ergo,3. hence,4. so,5. then,
6.thereupon,7 thus;
(Idioms) 8.by reason of that 9.by reason of this,10. for that reason,
11. for this reason[/quote]

[quote]I'm surprised you don't accept 'appropriately' as a substitute for 'accordingly'[/quote]

The reason people can understand "dress accordingly",when it is said,is because it's understood from the context in which it is used,or from what's been said,but not because it's a direct synonym to "dress appropriately".
You should always dress appropriately.

Let's remember that "accordingly" has two different definitions.Here they are...

1.Accordingly= for that reason;therefore/Example/:"They are accordingly not interested in the negotiations...=They are therefore not interested in...".

2.Accordingly= in a manner that is suggested by what is known or has been said/Example/:"You know we are going fishing so dress accordingly".(i.e.appropriately).
First you need to know according to what norm and particular task you're supposed to dress appropriately.Then dress accordingly.

I'm using the first definition of "accordingly"in my sentence and translation so let's not confuse it with the second one now,shall we?(i.e.accordingly=therefore)
In Thai;"appropriately" would be_ อย่างเหมาะสม "yaang moh-som"_ and that wouldn't be appropriate in the above translation at all.

Hope this post has narrowed the gap a bit or even bridged it?

Cheers.
Snowleopard.