Flashermac Posted June 24, 2013 Report Share Posted June 24, 2013 I've found it wise to be careful about trying to use slang. The problem is knowing when and where to use it, compounded by the fact that slang is often short lived. Thais can say things to each other that a foreigner couldn't get away with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Very true. I have been reprimanded a few times for using vocabulary that the guy I was speaking to, just did. "But you just used the same word FFS"? "That is different, I am thai"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 26, 2013 Report Share Posted June 26, 2013 I've been told, "You're an archan! You're not supposed to talk like that." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiRai Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 For those poor suffering souls willing to sacrifice, and holding the intestinal fortitude to learn the Thai Language, let me recommend this excellent reference manual, authored by John J. Flashermac (under a pseudonym of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainsdrifter Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Our Flashermac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/shortcuts/2012/nov/05/prince-charles-papua-new-guinea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexi Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 For those poor suffering souls willing to sacrifice, and holding the intestinal fortitude to learn the Thai Language, let me recommend this excellent reference manual, authored by John J. Flashermac (under a pseudonym of course). Should be quite a thin volume .....after all how many phrases do they need ?......" what your name ? "......where you flom ? "......" it my birthday,you buy me lady drink,ok na ? " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I met a gal who had been a Peace Corps vol in Udorn during the VN War days. She recalled watching the new arrivals from the farms being taught "GI English" in restaurants by the older BGs so they could go work in the bars and MPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tod-daniels Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 I have never had a thai say à¸à¸£à¸±à¹ˆà¸‡à¸£à¸¹à¹‰à¸¡à¸²à¸ to me when I spoke Thai to them, not ever.. Now perhaps I'm just not around the demographic of thais who'd say bull-shit things like that to foreigners who speak thai to thais.. Or I'm not all that smart so they don't marvel at the depth of my knowledge. If someone said that to me I'd probably come back with มันดีà¸à¸§à¹ˆà¸²à¹„ม่รู้à¸à¸°à¹„รเลยà¹à¸šà¸šà¹„ทย ๆ (It's better than not knowing anything like Thai people) Interestingly enough the compound phrase รู้มาภcan carry the meaning of shrewd, selfish or greedy.. http://www.thai-language.com/id/216002 Note to "JaiRai"; As far as โคตร, if you watched Alif Silpachai's video about it, you'd noticed he said it cannot be used with "things" (nouns) and can ONLY be used with verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.. You can actually use it two ways; say it once before the v/adj/adv or double it up after. fucking hot - โคตรร้à¸à¸™ or ร้à¸à¸™à¹‚คตร ๆ fucking beautiful - โคตรสวย or สวยโคตร ๆ fucking stupid - โคตรโง่ or โง่โคตร ๆ fucking mad - โคตรโà¸à¸£à¸˜ or โà¸à¸£à¸˜à¹‚คตร ๆ fucking terrible - โคตรà¹à¸¢à¹ˆ or à¹à¸¢à¹ˆà¹‚คตร ๆ I have found doubling it at the end doesn't sound so ฮาร์ดคà¸à¸£à¹Œ; hardcore (spelled in Thai). I probably use โคตร at least 15 -20 times a day with all walks of Thais and never had a bad experience. Then again I routinely say "fuck" when I speak English, so go figure. Oh and for food that tastes like shit, the correct phrase is ดีà¸à¸§à¹ˆà¸²à¸à¸´à¸™à¸”ิน (better than eating dirt) or what I often hear now is ดีà¸à¸§à¹ˆà¸²à¸¥à¸´à¹‰à¸™à¹€à¸¥à¸µà¸¢à¸šà¸±à¸™à¹„ด (better than my tongue licking the stairs). Slang is totally generational, it comes, it goes, so if you're already middle aged busting out with "ภาษาวัยรุ่น" (teenage speak) is gonna look pretty foolish. I've been working with some Thai guys my age (I'm 54) to get slang and idioms from the correct generation. I've found that EVERY adult Thai will immediately know what I've said. However some of the Thai teens get that deer in the headlites look, because it's the slang from their parents generation and they don't know what it means. As far as "certain people not supposed to speak like that or an all-too-full-of-them-self Thai teacher trying to brainwash you into thinking Thais don't curse that's just hog-wash. I was at the food-court in the basement of a building at Chula Uni a while back. A group of "Chula gurls" were sitting at the next table. A gurl walked up and was greeted with à¸à¸µà¸”à¸à¸à¸¡à¸²à¸ªà¸²à¸¢à¸—ำไม (whore, why'd you come late!). Now granted these were obviously close friends, and certainly didn't think I could understand Thai or they'da changed the "spoken register" of their Thai like they would have if an older Thai were within earshot. Still, slang, idioms, cursing, are part of EVERY language, and it adds texture, depth and emotion to what you're saying. Oh one last thing, that kid; ALif Silpachai on youtube is a doctoral student in linguistics at the University of Southern California (USC). He's certainly not your run-o-the-mill "I wanna teach people about Thai" sorta guy. Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiRai Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 Note to "JaiRai"; As far as โคตร, if you watched Alif Silpachai's video about it, you'd noticed he said it cannot be used with "things" (nouns) and can ONLY be used with verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.. You can actually use it two ways; say it once before the v/adj/adv or double it up after. fucking hot - โคตรร้à¸à¸™ or ร้à¸à¸™à¹‚คตร ๆ fucking beautiful - โคตรสวย or สวยโคตร ๆ fucking stupid - โคตรโง่ or โง่โคตร ๆ fucking mad - โคตรโà¸à¸£à¸˜ or โà¸à¸£à¸˜à¹‚คตร ๆ fucking terrible - โคตรà¹à¸¢à¹ˆ or à¹à¸¢à¹ˆà¹‚คตร ๆ I have found doubling it at the end doesn't sound so ฮาร์ดคà¸à¸£à¹Œ; hardcore (spelled in Thai). I probably use โคตร at least 15 -20 times a day with all walks of Thais and never had a bad experience. Then again I routinely say "fuck" when I speak English, so go figure. Note to TD - gleaned a lot from your posts on another forum until you were banned (and that was a joke), helped me choose a decent school (BA would be the initials).j Any and all bullshit aside, thank you. Hope to see you post here more often. Don't know if you've spoken with the Board Admin (KS), but he's one of the brighter guys living in BKK and been here several years. To reiterate - hope to see you here more often. Thank you for the (good) input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.