English is a weird language...

[cdnmatt]

Let's talk about language. Leo knows English quite well, but learned from school, so obviously doesn't understand slang. You guys ever get this with your BFs or Thai friends? Share your experiences.

For one example, Leo thinks "naked" is pronounced "nake" in the present tense, which is logically correct. If you're in school learning English, than "naked" would be past tense, hence "nake" would be present tense.

Then loads of other fuck ups in the English language. And there's another one. Have fun trying to explain what "fuck ups" mean to someone who isn't a native English speaker.

Here's some more that I've found hard to try an explain the meaning of:

- "Why not?". Multiple meanings, totally dependent on context.
- "Oh, shit"
- "You told me straight up..."
- "Got it!" -- Again, multiple meaning based on context
- "Fuck me", "fuck off", "fuck that", and so on...
- "You bet!"

And the list goes on... feel free to ad.

[bkkguy]

For one example, Leo thinks "naked" is pronounced "nake" in the present tense, which is logically correct. If you're in school learning English, than "naked" would be past tense, hence "nake" would be present tense.

I don't know what school you went to but at my school what was " logically correct" was that, unlike verbs, adjectives didn't have tense - past or present

though outside of school if you wanted to "conjugate the verb" it was easier to be naked

if you really want to confuse a non-native speaker my favorite is still "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"

bkkguy

[francois]

matt, judging by your use of "fuck" and its variants in your posts, I think Leo must be quite aware of the nuances? I know my bf is! :devilsh:

[cdnmatt]

matt, judging by your use of "fuck" and its variants in your posts, I think Leo must be quite aware of the nuances? I know my bf is! :devilsh:

No, I actually got him to stop saying "fuck" all the time. I watched myself and stopped using it, plus told him it's a bad word that you don't need to use. Now I have him wandering around saying "ho, shit!" all the time, haha. There's no winning. :)

Another one that's hard to explain is "what's up?". He's still back in his village, but will be back tomorrow, and I guess he's wandering around saying "what's up?" to everyone.

No, dude.... that's not how it works. You have to wait for people to come up to you, then you ask them, "what's up?". Althought you can, you don't generally just walk up to your friends and say "what's up?". You wait for them to approach you.

[cdnmatt]

I don't know what school you went to but at my school what was " logically correct" was that, unlike verbs, adjectives didn't have tense - past or present

though outside of school if you wanted to "conjugate the verb" it was easier to be naked

if you really want to confuse a non-native speaker my favorite is still "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"

bkkguy

I don't know what school he went to either, but it was obviously shit. He;s told me before that he thinks Hitler is the guy from Russia who saved everyone from WWIII, has asked if Canada is in Europe, and the list goes on.

Nonetheless, he is good at English, and I can see that. If he sees "ed" at the end of a word, he'll just assume that means past tense. I guess I'm a bit of an asshole, because I haven't bothered correcting him on it yet, because I just find it really fucken cute, to the point I now say "nake" all the time too. :)

[FarangRuMak]

Every language has phrases, conventions, idioms etc that are confusing to learners.
A TEFL practitioner was amazed by her Japanese students holding their books open above their heads when she told them to "look it up in your book".
😑Not convincing I know.

[arsenal]

English actually has words that can mean almost the exact opposite with slightly different usage.

'The meal was fine' means it was just about ok but 'it was a fine meal' means it was very good.

'Correct' can mean that is right or it needs to be changed.

[cdnmatt]

"I don't give a shit" is another good one I just remebered.

"What?!? You don't want to give me your shit????".

That makes for a fun explanation. :)

[FarangRuMak]

When you say to your darling of the moment something like "sure you can go to Morlam with your friends, I don't care" they often get upset and ask why you don't care about them.

[Chuai-Duai]

I made the mistake of trying to explain the concept of "ish" to my young friend. i.e. "is it cold?" "coldish".

He then went around with his lips in an exagerated pout adding a "ssshhh" sound to the end of almost any word.

I also tried to get him to stop saying "Oh my God" all the time which didn't sound right coming from him particularly with a pause between each word.

Another thing he gets wrong is personal pronouns. So he will say "my mother hurt MY leg" when what he means is "my mother hurt HER leg". He does that so much that I've given up trying to correct him as I usually know what he means.

[bobsaigon2]

Lost consonants: Thai boy says we are going out to dinner with his sister and her boyfriend from " I - land ". I assumed he was referring to "Ireland" and looked forward to chatting with him about his lovely country. Turns out he was not from "Ireland", but from "Iceland", both of which can be pronounced " I - land " by Asians.

[frequent]

Turns out he was not from "Ireland", but from "Iceland", both of which can be pronounced " I - land " by Asians.I'm not sure that's true of Asians generally, Bob, but the Thai language (almost?) never has a syllable that ends in the "s" sound. Hence you will often hear Thai boys speaking English who talk about their "how", meaning their "house". This is so common I thought (silly me) that everyone knew that. It's the same for plurals - Thais have no concept of adding to the noun to denote a plural. Plural is usually indicated by an actual number or the context. Those of us who remember arriving at Don Muang when it was the only international airport in Bangkok may recall seeing the very large sign proclaiming "Welcome to the Land of Smile". Even the pronunciation of that is beyond many Thai - not only is the "s" ending difficult to impossible, the concept of smiles vs. smile is irrelevant since the context "obviously" signifies the plural. Hence the same Thai boys will talk about "The land of smi"

[cdnmatt]

Lost consonants: Thai boy says we are going out to dinner with his sister and her boyfriend from " I - land ". I assumed he was referring to "Ireland" and looked forward to chatting with him about his lovely country. Turns out he was not from "Ireland", but from "Iceland", both of which can be pronounced " I - land " by Asians.

Yeah, there's loads of words like that. Lots of times I have to get Leo to spell the word, so I know what the hell he's saying.

Same goes both ways though. I know way more Thai words than I can actually pronounce and be understood. When out and about, I can probably only use about one third of the words I know, because I can't pronounce the rest of them properly.

Both, Thai and English have different sounds that don't exist in the other language.

[Smiles]

Just a simple question. So when you say ~~ for instance ~~ to Leo, do you say " ... it's really hot in here Leo, would you please close the blind ... " do you use 'blind' or 'blinds'?
Or are you just being ironic?

[cdnmatt]

To be honest, I don't really even know. He just got back today, so I'll watch myself over the next couple days. I'm pretty sure I shy away from using plurals and tenses though, because they don't exist in the Thai language, so easier to be understood.

That, and for some reason I mix alot of Thai in. For example, I'll never say "bottle" or "bottles",, but will just say "kuwat". For example, "oh, I got sib song kwuat of water". Must be annoying as hell to listen to me. :)

[cdnmatt]

Oh, but I do drop a lot of the small words though. Probably shouldn't to help him become more fluent, but I do. For example, I'll say "want to take aabname with me?" instead of "do you want to take a shower with me?".

How do you talk to your guy

[Smiles]

Oh, but I do drop a lot of the small words though. Probably shouldn't to help him become more fluent, but I do. For example, I'll say "want to take aabname with me?" instead of "do you want to take a shower with me?".
How do you talk to your guy
I 'talk' to him exactly as I would talk to any farang. I don't believe in dumbing down my old man.
His 'real' English has gotten unbelievably better over the years ... so much so that I don't even give a second thought any more.
Don't understand something? No problem, fix it instantaneously before it's lost in the fog of language. We have a very heavy Thai/English dictionary on a table in the bedroom. It's gotten used a million times.

[cdnmatt]

You actually have a book dictionary? Do you still send written letters in the mail, and have a landline too? In case you're not aware, you can just pick up your phone and say something like, "Ok, Google, Thai word for xxx", and if your phone will tell you. If you have Google Talkback installed, your phone will also speak the proper pronounciation to you.

Sorry, but if you're going to be a smug asshole about the whole "blind" or "blinds" thing, I can do the same. :)

[Smiles]

Sorry? You call that "sorry"?
I have next door a lovely dog who craves his cheese hit in the morning. If I've run out of cheese he is quite adept at making me feel "sorry". And I tell him that.
But you? It is to laugh. For me: it is to head-shake.
But do carry on.
PS: the "smug" thing is getting pretty old. Could you please look in that dictionary for a more original synonym.

[cdnmatt]

What the hell are you doing give dogs cheese? Might to time to crack open your volumes of Encyclopedia Britanicca, and educate yourself. Most dogs are lactose intolerant.

Of course he's going to like cheese, because he's a dog, hence will eat anything and is always hungry. If you want to be nice to him, go buy some dog treats, or give him some fried rice, or something.

[frequent]

If you have Google Talkback installed ...Most of us don't use a kindergarten operating system on our phones, so we would be using Siri

[cdnmatt]

Most of us don't use a kindergarten operating system on our phones, so we would be using Siri

Ok, ok... I'll admit defeat on this one. Leo showed up yesterday, and I guess has a vrack on the screen of his iPhone now, so I offered to switch phones, since a while back I bought a brand new Samsung A5. Then it dawned on me, I haven't actually tested Siri yet.

We tested it just this morning, and I have to admit, it kicks ass. I was able to do everything -- send Line messages, make Line calls, send e-mails, make calls, etc. Then I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure iPhone must have a screen reader app similar to Google Talkback, so the phone will talk to me. That would vastly improve my life.

Both, Google Now and S-Voice are pretty much totally fucken useless. I can get the time and day, plus search for images of things I need (eg. "ok Google, images of asparagus" while out grocery shopping), and once I was able to send a SMS message via S-Voice, but that's about it. The good thing about Google Now is it understands me nearly 100% of the time, whereas S-Voice understood me about 70% of the time. 13,000 baht phone to use as a clock, and search for shit. Oh, and I guess I can receive calls on it, as I know approximately where the answer button is, so just keep tapping at the screen until the ringing stops then say "hello?".

Ok, looks like I'm buying an iPhone now. Oh good, I was really shoping to spend an extra 20,000 baht this week. Bloody hell...

[Chuai-Duai]

I've just been talking to my Thai friend on his mobile to discuss a trip we are taking on Teusday. At one point I had no idea what he was on about. Then in an acknowlegement that it's easier to talk face to face and of the importants of gesture he used a phrase I rather liked. "Tomorrow you understand me, I talk with my hands".

[Tintin]

Then I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure iPhone must have a screen reader app similar to Google Talkback, so the phone will talk to me. That would vastly improve my life.

On the iPhone it's called VoiceOver. To activate it, you just have to tell Siri: "Activate VoiceOver".

VoiceOver is explained in the online user manual under this link:
http://help.apple.com/iphone/10/#/iph3e2e415f

[bkkguy]

Could you please look in that dictionary for a more original synonym.

the sound you are hearing is Roget turning in his grave at another missed opportunity to promote his work - digital or print edition!

bkkguy

[cdnmatt]

Another one in the pronounciation category -- "hard", "hurt", "heart". Have fun getting any Thai person to pronounce all 3 correctly. Again though, same with me... I know a decent amount of Thai, but know I can't pronounce it worth a shit.

BTW.... Thanks tintin. Yeah, I'll make sure to get an iPhone shortly here. That simple 5 minute test was all I needed to let me know Siri is vastly superior to either, Google Now or S-Voice.

[bobsaigon2]

Farang to Thai boy before the boy left the house on his motorbike: "Wear your helmet". Thai boy: "It's upstairs".

[Tintin]

bobsaigon2: Haha, misunderstandings can be sooo frustrating... but they can be funny as well, as your example clearly shows! You made me laugh out loud :)

[Smiles]

the sound you are hearing is Roget turning in his grave at another missed opportunity to promote his work - digital or print edition!
bkkguy
Yooooo bkkguy! Your delicious analility is still there going strong, even after being so for 20+ years on the message boards.
These days the online dictionaries all have built in Synonym Features (as well as Antonym Finders, Thesauruses, Homonym Helpers and my favourite, the wonderful Onomatopoeia Searcher). All in a bundle.
This just FYI.

[christianpfc]

Regardless of speaking to Thai or Farang, I rarely use phrases that have "fuck", "shit" or "God" in it, that removes a lot of the problems you have.

I still remember from English classes in school, we were supposed to underline all verbs in a text, and someone underlined "morning" (like "I wake up in the morning"), looking only at the ending and thinking it is is a progressive tense.

[werner]

Very interesting discussion...

English is my third language [after French and German], but I more or less have a "native" command of English because I had tutorials in English as a child in Switzerland and graduated from an American high school and American universities.

Nevertheless, English slang occasionally baffles me. When I first heard, "voting with their feet", I could not understand the term until someone told me what it meant, to leave and go somewhere else. In fact, I perhaps heard this term for the first time in Bangkok, when some one told me, "If you do not like the drink prices at Dream Boys, you can vote with your feet"--i.e., patronize another bar.

The way young Americans use the term "chill" continues to confuse me...I understand, "chill out" after a long-day's work, but what does it mean if some one is described as "chill"????

Someone in this forum gave an interesting example of English: "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana". Yes, I can understand that....

[cdnmatt]

The word "chill" would be used by black people more than white people. Well, that can wiggers (white people who wish they were black).

"Don't worry, he's chill" means he's cool, he's ok, he's my friend. Kind of, "I know him, so you don't have to be suspect of him".

It's kind of like vnouching for someone. When you introduce someone to another friend, you can say "he's chill", meaning I know this guy, and you don't have to worry about him.

[cdnmatt]

Another one -- "load me up", in reference to him doing to the market and asking what I'd like. We're running low on food, so I just said, "I don't know, load me up", wwhich left him quite confused. :)

[Dalewood]

Very interesting discussion...

English is my third language [after French and German], but I more or less have a "native" command of English because I had tutorials in English as a child in Switzerland and graduated from an American high school and American universities.

Nevertheless, English slang occasionally baffles me. When I first heard, "voting with their feet", I could not understand the term until someone told me what it meant, to leave and go somewhere else. In fact, I perhaps heard this term for the first time in Bangkok, when some one told me, "If you do not like the drink prices at Dream Boys, you can vote with your feet"--i.e., patronize another bar.

The way young Americans use the term "chill" continues to confuse me...I understand, "chill out" after a long-day's work, but what does it mean if some one is described as "chill"????

Someone in this forum gave an interesting example of English: "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana". Yes, I can understand that....

After reading the back-and-forth between some of the posters on this forum, I wish they would take a chill pill before they respond.

[RonanTheBarbarian]

One formulation that can be very confusing in "Thaiglish" is saying "My friend you" instad of "your friend"

"My friend you said to my friend that he go to disco with my friend you" ....Meaning "one of my friends was invited to the disco by one of your friends"

Also saying "boring" when they mean "bored"...when your guy turns to you in the disco and announces "I am boring!", they are not looking for a reply along the lines of "Dont say that about yourself teerak, you are anything but boring, I think you are fascinating..."

[Yraen]

Another one -- "load me up", in reference to him doing to the market and asking what I'd like. We're running low on food, so I just said, "I don't know, load me up", wwhich left him quite confused. :)

Matt, with all your slang-isms, I sometimes feel you grew up south of the USian border where bad English grammar and spelling is an art form. :dash::D Not a criticism, just an observation.

[cdnmatt]

Oh, that's just because I grew up in some small, shithole, redneck oil patch town in north western Canada. Wouldn't recommend it, especially if you're gay. Oh well, shit happens, life goes on.

Besides, if you think my language is crude, go hang out in a town like that for a while, and you'll experience crude language far worse. :)

[frequent]

One formulation that can be very confusing in "Thaiglish" is saying "My friend you" instead of "your friend""we country" is one of my favourites - should be "our country"

[FarangRuMak]

"we country" is one of my favourites - should be "our country"
Or "country we" .
The Scots and N Irish say "WE Country" and "WE Lassie" etc all the time.

[Nirish guy]

Or "country we" .
The Scots and N Irish say "WE Country" and "WE Lassie" etc all the time.

Actually it's wee (as in small) but it doesn't "actually" relate to the size of anything in fact and is more just a warm / nice / friendly / relaxed way of talking about something.

For instance it took my Flipino BF a long time to get used to the idea that when I said I was going down to my local bar for a wee pint that a) I would certainly be drinking a lot more than "a pint" and nor should be expect me back home in anything under two hours or more as that "wee" pint could actually result in copius amounts of alchol over a long period of time depending on the bad ( good) company I feel in with. But that was ok as if I came home drunk he could always make me a wee cup of tea to try and sober me up I guess, along with maybe a wee sandwhich or two and then maybe a wee sleep until the beer wore off. :-)

[FarangRuMak]

Thank you Nirish.
So in Scotland/Nireland do they have a Wee-Lee
but in England they have a normal Willee?
Joking😏

[Uranus]

Most of us don't use a kindergarten operating system on our phones, so we would be using Siri
... which incidently, is pronounced "silly" in Thai.