CTO Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 I proudly ordered lunch for a visiting group of business partners in Thai - everything was perfect until I ordered the drinks - the blokes all wanted Heineken - I wanted water only as I had a lot of meetings in afternoon. "Kuit Nam Blow" is what I should have said - instead I asked "Kuit Nam Pla" the waitress didn't bat a eye lid - asked if I wanted it cold - I said yes. She came out with the Heinekens, a bottle of fish sauce with a ice bucket for it. Very funny waitress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hi, I think we all make fuck-ups like that For the longest time I refused to say 'banana' in Thai as I often mispronounced and said 'dick'. Then I found out that contrary to how many Thais pronounce it there *is* an 'l' in the word for 'banana'. Since adding that in, no more problems. Sanuk! I had this problem long time ago too. There was no way I would walk up to a female fruit seller and ask "Hello love, how much are the dicks today". Consequently I just pointed and asked how much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Just out of curiosity what is the phoenetic thai word for banana and dick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALHOLK Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Sorry mate phonetics isn't something I'm good at. As KS pointed out banana contains an 'l' so by saying "klouey" with the 'l' clearly spoken you can avoid discussing the spot market price of dicks with fruit sellers. When Thais speak the words they sound quite similar to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hi, A bit like this: banana: khluay dick: kuay The 'uay' part is pronounced slightly different though, but no idea how to differentiate it in writing. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 I believe the dick is more with a soft Dutch W sound. I used it yesterday on stage saying both words after eachother and it seemed to go well. Although I still do not really understand the difference. But with dick I make a soft W (Dutch pronounciation style) and that seems to be it. W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hi, The dick one is more one sound, while the banana one is closer to two sounds. If that makes sense? Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldFun Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 for me it seems to work well as: 'gluay'=fruit & 'kuay'=meat :hubba: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 And of course the vast majority of thai people would never pronounce the L-sound in the consonant cluster of Gluay thus providing plenty of opportunities for the unwary farang to misunderstand. I never leave out the L-sound as I all too vividly recall the time when my mate fucked up the pronounciation of Gluay Hom. (one of the many kinds of bananas found in LOS) Speaking of banana, another excellent opportunity for the tonedeaf is: Gluay Buat chee. Banana soaked in coconut milk. Get it wrong and you will be directed to the nearest lavatory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 In that case you can all come and play comedy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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