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Lesson Transcript

Ryan: All About Thai, lesson 13 - Top 5 Phrases Your Teacher Might Never Teach You. Hi, everyone!
Rawinporn: Welcome back to All About Thai.
Ryan: I’m telling you right now, this lesson is really fun.
Rawinporn: We’ll go over some phrases that your teacher might not teach you.
Ryan: Now, we don’t want you to get the wrong idea. You won’t find any swear words or anything of that sort here.
Rawinporn: No. Just some Thai phrases that are just a little too slangy to be introduced in the classroom.
Ryan: These are words though that you’ll encounter a lot in Thailand.
Rawinporn: In Thailand, you’ll probably hear them every day.
Ryan: Yeah. They’re that common.
Rawinporn: So, if you’re ready to learn some fun Thai, let’s get started!
Ryan: The first phrase we’ll go over is… jěeng.
Rawinporn: Lôoet or gěe-gěe!
Ryan: Those words mean “awesome,” “great,” “cool,” or “gorgeous.”
Rawinporn: You might notice that we said three words.
Ryan: Yeah. For males, you can say jěeng.
Rawinporn: And lôoet or gěe-gěe is more appropriate for females, since it sounds so feminine.
Ryan: You say these words when you really think something or someone is cool.
Rawinporn: For example, you see a super cool car drive pass.
Ryan: Jěeng wá.
Rawinporn: wá is added at the end like khráp, but it is used only among friends and family. It is very informal.
Ryan: Right, jěeng wá.
Rawinporn: For females, when you want to give a compliment of someone’s appearance or clothes, you can use the word lôoet or gěe-gěe.
Ryan: And next we have bâa.
Rawinporn: ai bâa
Ryan: Now, be careful who you say this to. In fact, it might be better to just not use it all, but it’s a good one to know anyway. Depending on the situation and how it’s used, this word could come off sounding like a strong insult or just as a playful joke.
Rawinporn: That’s right. It all depends on how the person uses it, I think.
Ryan: If you’re really angry and you call someone ai bâa, that’s pretty harsh.
Rawinporn: But if you’re just using around with your friends and you use it, it just comes off as playful. The tone would be like - bâa, ai bâa.
Ryan: Okay. Next, we have sà-dtaaw-booe-rîi.
Rawinporn: Sà-dtaaw-booe-lǎae.
Ryan: Isn’t strawberry an English fruit?
Rawinporn: Actually, the root of this word came from the word dtaaw-lǎae, which means "pretend," "fake," or "lie." Lǎae and rîi from strawberry have a very similar sound, so we changed it to sà-dtaaw-booe-lǎae or even sà-dtaaw-booe-rîi.
Ryan: It’s close to something to like “lie” or “liar.”
Rawinporn: Right, but in most cases, you don’t actually think that what the person is saying is a lie. It means to slightly distort the truth.
Ryan: Again, it depends on the tone. If you are angry and tells someone that he or she is a sà-dtaaw-booe-lǎae, it can be kind of impolite.
Rawinporn: Exactly. But if your friend tries to lie or distort the truth, you can tease him or her by using this word.
Ryan: And the next one…
Rawinporn: mâi khǎeng-raaeng
Ryan: mâi khǎeng-raaeng
Rawinporn: For example, phaa-sǎa yîi-bpùn mâi khǎeng-raaeng means “My Japanese language skills are not good.”
Ryan: phaa-sǎa-thai mâi khǎeng-raaeng
Rawinporn: means “My Thai language skills are not good.”
Ryan: But actually, mâi khǎeng-raaeng means “unhealthy,” doesn’t it?
Rawinporn: Right. Many years ago, when Hector said this word by mistake, he is half-Thai and American, so his Thai is not really good.
Ryan: Uh-huh.
Rawinporn: For Thai, phaa-sǎa-thai mâi khǎeng-raaeng sounds cute and funny. So, it has become very, very popular since then.
Ryan: Oh, I see! Okay. Well, let’s go to the next one.
Rawinporn: When having a conversation. It is important to show that the listener is paying attention to and understanding the speaker.
Ryan: Yes. For example, khráp or khráp-khráp.
Rawinporn: khâ or khâ-khâ
Ryan: Please be careful. This doesn’t show that the listeners are agreeing with you.
Rawinporn: They just want to show that they are listening and still keeping up with the conversation.
Ryan: châi-châi
Rawinporn: Means “yeah” or “I know.” Khun Ryan uses châi-châi to express agreement.
Ryan: And you can say ‘an’ which means “okay,” “yeah.”
Rawinporn: And when you are surprised, you can say hǒo.
Ryan: châi-châi
Rawinporn: Next, I would like to talk about words and phrases that young people can only use.
Ryan: That sounds interesting. Okay, for example…
Rawinporn: You can attach mâak-maai to an adjective when you really want to emphasize it.
Ryan: Like jěeng mâak-maai. As we learned, jěeng means “cool” or “awesome.” So, jěeng mâak-maai means something like “Really cool!” or “Really, really awesome!”
Rawinporn: Another example is yâak mâak-maai. Yâak means “difficult,” therefore, yâak mâak-maai would mean “very difficult.” Another slangy word is sù-khôoi.
Ryan: Come on! That’s a Japanese slang word, isn’t it?
Rawinporn: Yeah. The word is very popular among Thais and this would appear on the TV commercials.
Ryan: Oh, so, sù-khôoi in Thai also means “cool,” “wow,” “amazing,” or “great” just like the Japanese version?
Rawinporn: Of course!
Ryan: Sù-khôoi! And next is chá-nii. You mean a “gibbon”?
Rawinporn: Yeah, that’s right, but Thai youngsters use this word as a slang word that means “woman.”
Ryan: Well, what is the similarity between the words “woman” and “gibbon.”
Rawinporn: Actually, this word started from the ladyboy group. Chá-nii is an animal. When these animals cry out, it sounds like this po…wa, po, po, po, powa!
Ryan: Oh, that’s really interesting.
Rawinporn: The sound is similar to the word phû-wà which means “husband” in Thai.
Ryan: Really?!
Rawinporn: Yeah. So, the ladyboy uses the word chá-nii for “woman” because a woman sometimes cry for a man.
Ryan: Okay, I see.
Rawinporn: Nowadays, both woman and ladyboys use this word. Anyway, I don’t think a guy should use this word.
Ryan: Why?
Rawinporn: It sounds so feminine. Most important, it is a little impolite to call someone chá-nii. Thais use this word only in gossip among friends.
Ryan: Okay. And the next word…
Rawinporn: khân thêep
Ryan: khân thêep
Rawinporn: Yes, khân thêep. Thêep in literature means "god." Khân means “level.” Among young people, khân thêep becomes an adjective that means this person is "very good" or "expert" in something.
Ryan: On the same level with god?
Rawinporn: Yeah, something like that.
Ryan: Okay. For example?
Rawinporn: For example, Khun Ryan speaks Thai very fluently, so I can say that - khun Ryan phûut phaa-sǎa-thai khân thêep.
Ryan: khàawp-khun-khráp
Rawinporn: phûut
Ryan: Means “speak.”
Rawinporn: And phaa-sǎa-thai is the Thai language.
Ryan: Thefore, khun Ryan phûut phaa-sǎa-thai khân thêep means…
Rawinporn: “Ryan speaks Thai very fluently.”
Ryan: So, I think all these phrases are good to know, even if you don’t use them, just knowing them for when you come across them is good enough because believe us, you’ll come across them at some point.
Rawinporn: Yeah, that’s true.
Ryan: Well, until next time.
Rawinporn: See you!

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