Dexi Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Read this in a short story,its also the title of a song by ( the name eludes me )...I looked up " tarn " in the dic. and it means batteries ?...WTF...anyone an idea as to what this phrase means ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Tarn low tone = battery or charcoal, spelled the same way. Mayby as in the song: Tarn Fai Gao by bird. Charcoal, I fail to see the big picture here. :: Kon mai ao tarn Person no want charcoal??? Tarn with a falling tone could also mean you, but it is a very formal term not used in lyrics. Did you read it in thai script? If not could it by any chance be: Khun Mai Ao Chan? You don`t want me. If you supply the actual thai spelling it would be settled in a split second But I am sure someone in here will know the song. Cheers Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginseng Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 This is why transliteration is often useless, the tonality of Thai does not lend itself to transliterating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Transliteration is not only often useless, it is chaotic because there is no standard. In cases thai language is not possible, I have noticed Thai's prefer to write in english to each other rather than transliterate Thai! I have seen a transliteration that carries the tone, but no one uses it. There is a popular song by the Thai band Big Ass that is named the subject of this thread by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Following on from Neo's lead, KHON MAI AO TAHN ¤¹äÃèà ÃÒ¶èÒ¹ seems to be an idiom meaning a good-for-nothing (person). http://www.ethaimusic.com/lyrics/265.htm I've also seen MAI AO TAHN äÃèà ÃÒ¶èÒ¹ translated as lazy, hopeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Hi Boo, Never would have figured that one out I was attempting to translate one word at a time, doesn`t work out when it is an idiom and I wasn`t familiar with this one. So "person no want charcoal" means "person good for nothing", why didn`t I figure that one out Cheers Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Hi Hua Nguu, Yes, I hadn't heard of it before. Just got it from the ethaimusic website. Wonder what the origin of it is lol? I've also come across the slightly similar sounding idiomatic expression MAI AO NAI äÃèà ÃÒä˹, meaning rubbish or lousy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Hi Boo, Kind of funny really, because at first I put this expression mai aow nai in my post, but then decided against it, since I couldn`t get the thai script to display properly, since I`ve just switched to a new browser, firefox cheers hua nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 26, 2006 Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 Haven't heard it said ages, but I remember MAI AOW NAI LOEY from back the '70s. It meant somebody who wasn't interested in anything -- thus more or less "good for nothing". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted January 26, 2006 Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 Flashermac said:Haven't heard it said ages, but I remember MAI AOW NAI LOEY from back the '70s. It meant somebody who wasn't interested in anything -- thus more or less "good for nothing". Oddly, I seem to hear that alot when I am around... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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