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Cultural Revelation on Sukhumvit


jitagawn

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I assume you are taking the piss, right?


 

 

hehe I thought he was too.

 

A BG brought me to a beer bar on second road, I sat at the bar and the bartender who knew my BG immediately called me "guanteen" (sp?). My BG was caught off guard, quickly gave bartender a signal that I speak Thai (I don't, just know alot of ungrammatical phrases). I smiled at the bartender and agreed with her "Chai lao, phom guanteen." The bartender was not even remotely embarassed.

 

There are a few hostiles out there in the LOS

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KS,

I must admit that you really do have my curiosity piqued as to why the salutation "Man" is so offensive.

 

My understanding of the use of the term is pretty much the same as what Plaa and LaoHuLi have already stated. It certainly is not the most gracious form of address, but nonetheless not one that is, at least in N. America, generally recognized as a demeaning term.

 

Since I would prefer not to unknowingly insult someone in a casual moment, I am indeed interested, in understanding why the salutation "man" is insulting to you. Any light you care to shed would be appreciated.

 

Searcher

 

What hurts, is not that you lied to me, but that I can no longer trust you.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Searcher,

 

the word 'man' in English has a very different meaning in Thai and is also pronounced differently.

 

'Man' in the Thai language means something along the lines of 'it'.

 

It's also pronounced rather in a way that resembles mun, like in nut and your typically Yank way of, "Hey man, check out that chick."

 

Hope this satisfies your curiosity.

 

Cheers,

Limbo

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Yours is an erudite and absolutely on target commentary.

Having been here for so long I have both observed and asked my self the very same questions posed by the author you so aptly refer to. I accept my position as a "farang" here also knowing that I have a home in San Francisco as well- (A place I am a 3 rd generation native.)

 

My whole reasoning behing the thread was to verbalize the incongruity of life here and the marvelous curiosity of it all that tends to bring us back again and again. For my own part my only defense against the prejudice of being a Farang is to speak the language in a DISARMINGLY natural manner. (Curiously enough over the phone I am almost always mistaken for a Japanese native... so go figure)

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Hi,

 

Limbo pretty much summed it up, but just to clarify myself.

 

'Man' (maybe written as 'mun' it would make more sense) means 'it' and is used to refer to things and animals. By using this to refer to a person you are effectively saying this person is the same as an animal.

That I find rather offensive.

 

Sanuk!

 

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'Man' (maybe written as 'mun' it would make more sense) means 'it' and is used to refer to things and animals. By using this to refer to a person you are effectively saying this person is the same as an animal.


 

So do you figure any of the BGs are having a little piss on us, knowing the double entendre, when they say, "Hey, you handsum man (mun)."

 

:dunno::banghead:

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Hi,

 

"So do you figure any of the BGs are having a little piss on us, knowing the double entendre, when they say, "Hey, you handsum man (mun)." "

Nah, don't think so. The difference in sound is quite obvious, and I don't think the sentence would make much sense ('Hey, you handsum it').

 

Sanuk!

 

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