#local woman harps on about linguistics

[visualtaehyun]

ถ้ามีรุ้งด้วยก็คงจะดี /thaa mee rung duuay gaaw khohng ja dee/

รุ้ง /rung/ is a rainbow, the entire spectrum of light, all of the colors. Rung is the name of Mork's sister. So what he says here, could also be read as:

"If Rung was here too, that would be nice."

You know how rainbows are formed? Light refracts in airborne water droplets. And you know what is made of such water droplets and can thus create a rainbow? หมอก /maawk/ - mist, fog, Mork.

It's not just Day who realized that he can still experience the world in all its beauty. I think Mork also realized that what matters is in your heart. Because he'll always carry Rung with him, wherever he goes.

Rung is all around them.

[visualtaehyun]

Disclaimer: Not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

I realize I never wrote a single language post for Pit Babe but I'd like interfans to lose their minds as well so-

- ป๊า /bpaa/ - อะไรคะ /a rai kha/ = What is it?

Babe usually calls Charlie ปะป๊า /bpa bpaa/ = papa, based on their parent roleplay thing lol bUT- just ป๊า /bpaa/? Gives more 'daddy' vibes

Charlie usually uses ครับ /khrap/ = typically male polite ending particle. Here though he's intentionally being flirty by using คะ /kha/ = typically female polite ending particle and often used to sound sweeter and softer. He's never done this before in the entire series btw

[visualtaehyun]

MY GIRLS ARE FINALLY ON AIR

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

Ongsa and Sun

At first, Ongsa wrongly assumes that Sun is older so she calls her พี่ /phi/, speaks respectfully and wais her:

ขอโทษค่ะพี่ /khaaw thoht kha, phi/

Then they settle into these pronouns:

☀ Sun: เรา /rao/ -> Ongsa (calls her เธอ /ter/ once when she asks her name)

🌐 Ongsa: เรา /rao/ -> Sun

-> เรา /rao/ is an informal 1st pers. pronoun that pretty much all the students in Ongsa's class seem to use

Later, when they're texting, it takes Ongsa entirely too long to catch onto the fact that Sun thinks Earth is a guy because-

คุยกันมาตั้งนาน เรายังไม่รู้เลยว่านายชื่ออะไร /khui gan maa dtang naan. rao yang mai ruu loei waa naai cheuu a rai/ -> นาย /naai/ is a male 2nd pers. pronoun

While we're talking about their texts, the subs have this weirdly mixed up:

1 - ฝันดีนะ /fan dee na/ = lit. dream well/good dreams, 'Sweet dreams' 2 - ราตรีสวัสดิ์ /raa dtree sa wat/ = formal, 'Good night' 3 - Similarly, Sun's มอนิ่งนะ /morning na/ is a more informal 'Good morning' compared to formal อรุณสวัสดิ์ /a roon sa wat/ or polite สวัสดีตอนเช้า /sa wat dee dtaawn chaao/

When Ongsa isn't gay-panic hiccupping, she's actually really clever and witty! I'll get to her ig posts in a second but there's also this moment:

ยังสวยอยู่เลย /yang suay yuu loei/ สวยจะ หมายถึง ซวยอ่ะ /suay ja- maai theung- suay a/

The difference in pronunciation between these two words is just the tone - สวย /suay/ (rising tone) means pretty vs. ซวย /suay/ (middle tone) means unlucky

from.the.earth__

ถ่ายรูป ด่วน สี-ขาวดำ /thaai ruup duaan see khaao dam/ = urgent/express black-and-white photography caption: ยกกล้องมาถ่ายแทบไม่ทัน /yohk glaawng maa thaai thaaep mai than/ = almost didn't raise the camera in time to snap this

caption: เงา-เหงา /ngao-ngao/ = shadow-lonely -> เงา ๆ /ngao ngao/ is an expression that means indistinctly, faintly

The difference in pronunciation is, again, in the tones - เงา /ngao/ (middle tone) means shadow vs. เหงา /ngao/ (rising tone) means lonely

caption: ว้าว! ปลาทับใจจัง /wow! bplaa thap jai jang/

I love this SO much omg It's a pun on ประทับใจ /bpra thap jai/ = impressed, but also a visual pun!!

ปลา /bplaa/ = fish + ทับ /thap/ = placed on top of + ใจ /jai/ = heart

caption: สู้ ๆ นะ เป็นกำลังใจให้ /su su na. bpen gam lang jai hai/ = Fighting! Rooting for/encouraging [you]!

Another visual pun! This one's only funny if you know what peaches are called in Thai: peach = ลูกท้อ /luuk thaaw/ - but the word ท้อ /thaaw/ in there? It means discouraged!

Alpha, Aylin, and Luna

🔝 Alpha is Ongsa's older sister: พี่ /phi/ (used as a 1st pers. pronoun) -> แก /gae/ (informal 2nd pers. pronoun)

👽 Aylin is their cousin, in the same grade as Ongsa, and speaks pretty curtly, almost like someone would on two-way radio: she doesn't use any pronouns apart from this once-

แกกำลังบุกรุกที่ของฉัน /gae gam lang book rook thee khaawng chan/

Omitting pronouns is possible and not uncommon in Thai but doing so constantly, combined with her monotone speech pattern, low voice, and mostly a lack of ending particles, it does stick out! It doesn't really come across in the subs tbh (apart from including the way she refers to people as humans = ม��ุษย์ /ma noot/):

ไม่ต้องแคร์ใคร /mai dtaawng care khrai/ = Don't need to care about anyone.

🌙 Luna, Alpha, the two bullies, and Mawin all seem to be in the same grade because all of them use the impolite pronouns กู/มึง /guu, meung/ (=I/you) amongst each other - how very fun to finally hear some GMMTV girls talk like this :D

I love Alpha and Luna teaming up to beat up scold these two dipshits:

Alpha: พวกมึงสองคนแกล้งน้องกูออ /phuuak meung saawng khohn glaaeng nong guu aaw/ Mawin, trying to defuse: พวกเธอใจเย็นก่อน /phuuak ter jai yen gaawn/

While the girls are furious, the guys are clearly fearing for their lives, wai'ing endlessly 😂

Lastly-

Sarah Salola

I gasped when I saw her name in the credits!! She's this handsome singer-songwriter with a lovely voice who's queer herself - she's talked about her sexuality and style before (interview is in Thai) but this Valentine's she revealed her partner :)

Here's a cover of Nont Tanont's รักแรก (First Love) she did with Jan 💕

Needless to say, I can't wait for her OST and the accompanying MV that's surely gonna be super cute!

[visualtaehyun]

A tale of mortar, pestle, and chili peppers: The bam bam in the ham in Thai

Thanks to @lurkingteapot for inspiring this gifset via pointing out a funny BBS and Last Twilight parallel!

[visualtaehyun]

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

The Fixed Stars 🌌

แก๊งดาวฤกษ์ /gang daao reerk/ = the star gang

ดาวฤกษ์ /daao reerk/ = astronomical term for a (fixed) star, the one closest to us is the Sun

ฤกษ์ /reerk/ = auspicious time

Haplessness

ซวย /suuay/ = unlucky, comes up a lot this episode! It's the same word Ongsa changes her half-delirious 'pretty' (สวย /suuay/) to in ep. 1 when she faints (explained here)

Ongsa's IG post

caption: ลุงกำพร้า น่าสงสาร /loong gam phraa. naa song saan/ = The uncle is grasping a knife/the uncle is orphaned. So pitiable!

-> pun on กำพร้า /gam phraa/ = orphan

-> กำ /gam/ = grasp, clench + พร้า /phraa/ = a large knife

Misc. pronouns and stuff

Tin, Charoen, and Ongsa

Ongsa เรา /rao/, Tin ฉัน /chan/ , Charoen uses her own name as a 1st pers. pronoun

Tin and Charoen use มึง /meung/ with each other but แก /gae/ with Ongsa (they're both familiar pronouns but the latter isn't as impolite), Ongsa uses แก /gae/ with both of them

Ton

whenever he's talking to girls, he uses typically-female polite ending particles ค่ะ/คะ /kha/ -> makes him sound like a playboy/a bit sleazy lol

maybe it's just AJ's delivery of some of these instances but, considering he's Ongsa's ex and Ongsa is a lesbian, there's a possibility he's actually a closeted gay

Ongsa and Alpha

Ongsa: หนู /nuu/ ->พี่ /phi/ + polite ending particles ค่ะ/คะ /kha/

Alpha: พี่ /phi/->แก /gae/

Nida and Bambam

ฉัน /chan/->ครู /kruu/ (title for teacher) or คุณ /khun/ (polite formal 2nd pers. pronoun) + polite ending particles ค่ะ/คะ /kha/

Luna and Aylin

Luna: พี่ /phi/->น้อง /nong/ or Aylin

Aylin: no pronouns and no polite ending particles In contrast- Ongsa and Sun use หนู /nuu/ and ค่ะ/คะ /kha/ whenever they're talking to anyone older, like Luna or the teachers

Luna's little speech to Aylin:

เพราะว่าพี่ก็เชื่อเหมือนกัน ว่าเราไม่ได้โดดเดี่ยวอยู่ในจักรวาล /phraw waa phi gaaw cheuua meuuan gan waa rao mai dai doht diao yuu nai jak gra waan/ = because I also believe that we aren't all alone in the universe. -> โดดเดี่ยว /doht diao/ = solitary, lonely, isolated

สำรวจอวกาศคนเดียวอ่ะ เหงาจะตาย ไปสำรวจด้วยกันมั้ย /sam ruuat a waa gaat khohn diao a- ngao ja dtaai. bpai sam ruuat duay gan mai/ = Exploring all by yourself- that's super lonely. Shall we go explore together?

Books

Alpha is reading Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea:

The book Aylin picked at the library also shows up as a prop in Ongsa's room later:

[visualtaehyun]

Been trying to avoid Cooking Crush spoilers on my dash but I just had to go watch the opening scenes at least because I had a feeling the subs I just saw on a gifset couldn't convey a pun going on and- Yup! That's exactly what's happening lol

Disclaimer: not a native speaker, still learning 🙏

ขอหอมหน่อยได้ไหม /khaaw haawm noi dai mai/

What Prem is actually saying: Can I have the onion?

What Ten thinks he's saying: Can I have a kiss?

You see, หอม /haawm/ here can have two meanings of different etymological origins: หอม of Khmer root means onion or allium while หอม of Proto-Tai root means fragrant, to smell sth. pleasant, and - by extension of a sniff kiss - to kiss.

หอมที่มือไง /haawm thee meuu ngai/

Prem: The onion in your hand!

Prem, according to Ten: A kiss on your hand!

The fact he barely questions this stranger's request 😂 While Prem is like What a weirdo lol

[visualtaehyun]

DFF language notes and observations

This was originally just supposed to be a quick look at Non's meds in ep. 8 but then I finished watching the episode and felt compelled to rewatch the entire show 🫠 So might as well collect everything into one post!

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

Por's mumblings (ep. 2)

กูขอโทษ อย่าเอาคืนกูเลย /guu khaaw thoht. yaa ao kheuun guu loei/ = "I'm sorry. Don't take revenge on me/Don't get back at me."

Time and ages

The present takes place in 2023, the past was three years ago, in 2020. Apart from White, the boys are all the same age according to the character overview below, which makes them all 19-20 years old in the present (while White is 18 and a freshman). In the past up to ep. 8, they would have been 16-17 years old and in 11th grade (ม. 5/3 -> Matthayom 5, class 3; ม. stands for มัธยม /mat tha yohm/ = secondary school).

Potty mouth Fluke

In the present, I swear every other word out of his mouth is a swear and the subs don't always make it obvious. An example of when he's speaking calmly in ep. 3:

เพราะคนอย่างไอ้เหี้ยท็อปอ่ะ แม่งคงไม่ปล่อยให้โอกาสแบบเนี่ยะหลุดมือไปง่ายๆละเว่ย /phraw khohn yaang ai hia Top a- maaeng khohng mai blaawy hai oh gaat baaep niia loot meuu bpai ngaai ngaai la woei/ = Because someone like that dipshit Top wouldn't fucking let an opportunity like this slip his hands so easily.

It's not like the others don't curse, they sure do lol, but Fluke does so even when not in a stressful situation, and it sticks out in contrast to White especially because the baby speaks so properly and politely to his phis.

Newspaper clipping (ep. 4)

เป็นแฟนไอ้ตี๋แต่มึงไม่รู้จักอาโจ้นะ /bpen faaen ai Tee dtaae meung mei ruu jak aa Joe na/ = You're Tee's boyfriend but don't know uncle Joe?

The headline reads: ตายปริศนา'เสี่ยโจ้'นายบ่อนใหญ่ /dtaai bprit sa naa 'siia Joe' naai baawn yai/ = Mysterious death of 'bigwig* Joe' the gambling magnate** ฟอกเงินบัญชีม้ากว่า 300 ล้าน /faawk ngern ban chee maa gwaa 300 laan/ = Laundered money with over 300 million mule accounts

* เสี่ย /siia/ = a rich guy who squanders money, a big spender in illicit businesses, mostly used for middle-aged men; it's used as a pronoun, hence why he's known as เสี่ยโจ้ /siia Joe/ and we hear his subordinates call him เสี่ย /siia/, often subbed as Boss; it's a term of Teochew origin that describes an aristocrat's son, originally ** นายบ่อนใหญ่ /naai baawn yai/ = big shot gambling den boss or the boss of a huge gambling den

The snippet on the right is another easter egg btw - 'Talking to Pond Krisda, director of "Man Suang", Thai filmmaking [...]' but I can't make out the rest in that box (the snippet above that, too, though some of it I can tell says tourists, free visa, 3 months).

Greasy

What the boys call Non is (ไอ้)เมือก /(ai) meuuak/ which is more like Slimy or Mucous, actually.

More news (ep. 6, 7, 8)

Gang of senior high teens accomplices to mule accounts

Police does 180: Senior high teens escape lawsuit for shady mule accounts

High school kid goes missing at same time as teacher in leaked clip Connected to case of shady mule account teens

Past injury?

Whoever actually leaked the clip has this pelvis x-ray saved that's labeled to be from that same year, 2563 aka 2020. The two files at the top look to be invoices.

Pronouns

When Phee goes to confront Non about the leaked clip, he's so furious that he switches from their usual เรา /rao/ (= I; informal) + calling each other by name instead of using a 2nd pers. pronoun to calling both Non and Keng มึง /meung/ (= you; impolite) and himself กู /guu/ (= I; impolite). For reference, กู/มึง /guu, meung/ are the same pronouns the entire friend group use with each other, as male friends in Thai shows often do. Non, as the new addition to the group, is the only one who uses เรา /rao/ + names, and Jin is the only who reciprocally uses these pronouns with him.

Non's meds

Lorazepam -> benzodiazepine; used for treating anxiety disorders, insomnia, seizures etc.

Sertraline -> antidepressant; used for treating clinical depression, PTSD, OCD, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder

Quetiapine -> antipsychotic; used for treating schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression etc.

THC poster, and a goof

ที่แห่งนี้...ไม่ได้มีแค่พวกเรา /thee haaeng nee...mai dai mee khaae puuak rao/ = In this place... it's not just us.

I'm sure there's more going on than just Phee and Tan infiltrating the group to get evidence and avenge Non. Like, Keng was on the phone with his contact Joy when he got hit by that white truck of doom car so I wonder if she's gonna come into play again in the present and who she really is.

And just for fun: that half-heartedly covered poster behind Tee looks suspiciously like a movie about a young chocolatier that shouldn't be out for another 3 years, according to the time line of this show lol

[visualtaehyun]

While catching up on We Are, I made a cheat sheet for me to refer back to and thought I might as well share 🤷‍♀️

1st years in Fine Arts

JJ as Matt (Matthew) แมท (แมทธิว), Toey's best friend Satang as Toey เต้ย, Q's mentee น้องรหัส /nong ra hat/

2nd years in Fine Arts

Ciize as Fai ฝ้าย Winny as Q คิว, Toey's mentor พี่รหัส /phi ra hat/, nicknamed Maestro Q เทพคิว /thehp Q/ (= divine Q) Phuwin as Peem พีม

2nd years in Engineering

Pepper as Beer เบียร์, Civil Engineering Tee as Mick มิค, Civil Engineering Pond as Phum ภูมิ, Civil Engineering Aou as Tan แทน, Computer Engineering

Other students

Marc as Chain เชน, 2nd year in Dentistry Poon as Pun ปัน, 2nd year in Political Science Boom as (Khao)fang (ข้าว)ฟ่าง, Phum's older brother, 2nd year in Architecture Title as Kluen คลื่น, Phum's love rival/pursues Peem

The adults

Godji as Aunt Pui อาปุ้ย, Peem's aunt, owner of a cafe Arm as Oh โอ้, Toey's Fine Arts senior, owner of the cafe Q and Toey met at Na as Professor Po อาจารย์โป, faculty of Fine Arts Champ as Aueai เอื่อย, the gang's Fine Arts senior, owner of an awful romanization of a name the bar Q works at

Pronouns

the gang: - Peem, Q, Chain, Pun, Tan - have been friends since high school - everyone uses กู /guu/->มึง /meung/

the brothers: - ภูมิ /Phum/->ฟ่าง /Fang/ and vice versa - childhood friends with Toey, used to protect and look out for him

Q and Toey: - currently กู /guu/->มึง /meung/ and เต้ย /Toey/->พี่คิว /phi Q/ - nicknames in the past are น้องนมปั่น /nong nohm bpan/ "Milk Frappe Kid" and พี่ดินสอ /phi din saaw/ "Mr. Pencil"

Toey and the boys: - he seems to call every one of them เฮีย /hia/ except for Q lol (เต้ย /Toey/-> เฮียพีม /hia Peem/, เฮียภูมิ /hia Phum/, เฮียฟ่าง /hia Fang/, พี่คิว /phi Q/) - Phum starts off with กู /guu/->มึง /meung/ but once they're in the car in ep. 4 he switches to เฮีย /hia/->เต้ย /Toey/ - the rest of them use กู /guu/->มึง /meung/ with him

Peem and aunt Pui: - พีม /Peem/->อา /aa/ and อา /aa/->น้องพีม /nong Peem/

Tan and Fang: - currently กู /guu/->มึง /meung/ in both directions

Phum and Peem: - กู /guu/->มึง /meung/ in both directions and I don't think it's ever gonna change

Gonna keep updating this post as the show airs! >> Updated for ep. 4

[visualtaehyun]

Names, particles, aliens and ghosts, oh my!

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

Ongsa & Alpha

Last week's episode started with the trio talking about the sisters' names:

Nunnapat Ampornsopon /Nan-na-phat Am-phaawn-soh-phohn/ Matthayom 4, class 6 (=10th grade) English

While we see this, Tin tells us Alpha's name too:

Napatsanun Ampornsopon นภัสนันท์ อัมพรโสภณ /Na-phat-sa-nan Am-phaawn-soh-phohn/

Her and Ongsa's first names have the exact same two words in them, just switcheroo'd:

นันท์ /nan/ = joy, happiness;

นภัส /na phat/ = sky, heaven

-> Quick pronunciation lesson: The final consonant in นภัส /na phat/ is called ส เสือ /saw seuua/ (= lit. S like the word for tiger) but in final position it's pronounced as a /t/. In Alpha's name, that same letter gets reduplicated to better link นภัส /na phat/ and นันท์ /nan/ so we get Napat-sa-nun!

Their last name Ampornsopon contains:

อัมพร /am phaawn/ = sky;

โสภณ /soh phohn/ = beautiful

Aylin

Her club application form was only shown in a Next Break preview last week, not the actual scene, but I wanted to take a look at it anyway:

Application to join the Astronomy Club Name: Aylin Kueaahree Grade: Matthayom 4, class 1 (=10th grade) Hobbies: Communicating with aliens Goal in joining the club: Searching for a friend/friends

Aylin is her first name, her last name is เกื้ออารีย์ /geuua aa ree/:

เกื้อ /geuua/ = to aid, do a favor, assist, lend a hand;

อารีย์ /ah ree/ = kind, generous

We saw her name properly this week, too, in the document she hilariously designed, wrote up, and filled out by hand:

Permit for spending the night at S-TAR school Subject: Asking for permission to stay the night at school for the duration of 1 night To: Counselling homeroom teacher I, (young Mr./young Miss/Mr./Miss) Aylin Keuaahree, ID number 406123, student of Matthayom 4/1, need to stay over at school ... on the date of the 24th of the month of August in the year of 2566 (2023) from 20.00 o'clock until 06.00 o'clock. Please kindly take it into consideration. Respectfully yours Aylin Keuaahree (Miss Aylin Keuaahree) Student

I've mentioned before that the subs are a bit too generous and don't quite show how much Aylin limits her speech to the minimum she needs to get her point across. One thing that consistently gets subbed is how she differentiates between aliens and humans. But not every instance of human is the same. She does seem to differentiate between general observations about human behavior and specific humans she talks to, now even addressing them appropriately (albeit with the 'human' descriptor).

1) มนุษย์ครูใจร้าย /ma noot khruu jai raai/ = [You] are mean, teacher human. 2) มันเป็นหนทางที่เอเลี่ยนจะได้เจอเพื่อนนะ /man bpen hon thaang thee alien ja dai juuhr pheuuan na/

มนุษย์ชอบถามแปลก ๆ /ma noot chaawp thaam bplaaek bplaaek/ = Humans like to ask weird questions.

1) มนุษย์พี่เคยบอกเอง ว่าเรื่องที่เชื่อไม่ใช่เรื่องที่ไร้สาระ /ma noot phi koei baawk ehng - waa reuuang thee cheuua mai chai reuuang thee rai saa ra/ = [You] said so [your]self, senior human - that what [I] believe in isn't nonsense. 2) ทำไมมนุษย์ชอบกลับคำพูด /tham mai ma noot chaawp glap kham phuut/ = Why do humans like to go back on their word?

Luna, Mawin, and Ton

Thanks again, Tin, for helpfully giving us all the names lol:

Luna Lalita Chanthaboriboon ลูน่า ลลิตา จันทบริบูรณ์ /Luu-naa La-lee-dtaa Jan-tha-baw-ree-buun/

Luna is her nickname, her first name Lalita ลลิตา means pretty, charming, lovely, and her last name จันทบริบูรณ์ contains:

จันท /jan tha/ from จันทร์ /jan/ = moon;

บริบูรณ์ /baw ree buun/ = complete, full, perfect, abundant

พี่เป็นดวงจันทร์ต่างหาก /phi bpen duuang jan dtaang haak/

Moving on to the boys-

Mawin Kow(a)charoen มาวิน โค้วเจริญ /Maa-win Khoh(-wa)-ja-reern/ -> the added 'wa' would be for the same ease-of-pronunciation reason I explained earlier with Alpha's name

Mawin isn't a Thai name but his last name โค้วเจริญ consists of:

โค้ว* likely from หมูโค้ว /moo khoh/? = a pork belly dish

เจริญ /ja reern/ = the same as Charoen's name, meaning to pray/chant, to prosper, to thrive

Edit, addition by @recentadultburnout:

Based on the usual pattern, the *โค้ว in the surname โค้วเจริญ is likely a Chinese surname that got incorporated into a Thai one. โค้ว is one of the top ten most used ones among Chinese surnames in Thailand. As for [his first name] มาวิน, while it was indeed not originally Thai, it did have a meaning—a borrowed word plus slang of sorts. A winner or to win.

Ton Thanakorn Khajornyoo ต้น ธนกร ขจรอยู่ /Dtohn Tha-na-gaawn Kha-jaawn-yuu/

His first name ธนกร /tha na gaawn/ = to create assets/capital; rich, wealthy

His nickname Ton ต้น might stem haha from the plant (ต้น)ขจร /(dtohn) kha jaawn/, a type of vine. ต้น /dtohn/ is a prefix used for plants but it can also mean leader, chief, leading, beginning, etc.

His last name ขจรอยู่ /kha jawn yuu/ = is spread/spreading, emanating, diffusing

An addendum about Ton

Last week, I wondered if maybe Ton was a closeted gay guy because of a handful of instances where AJ's delivery of the typically-female polite ending particles ค่ะ/คะ /kha/ sounded pretty sassy (and because he's Ongsa's ex aka the biggest lesbian under the sun lol). After episode three, I'm pretty sure he's just a huge flirt with everyone regardless of gender, he just adjusts his particle use (and also his height!) accordingly to sweet-talk them all:

1) ว่าไงครับสุดหล่อ /waa ngai khrap soot laaw/ -> ครับ /khrap/ = typically-male polite ending particle 2) แต่คุณแอลคะ /dtaae khun Al kha/ -> คะ /kha/ = typically-female polite ending particle

And since he finger-guns his way into the student council room, I think we all know now that he's bi

"Filth-eating spirit"

ใครจะไปล่าแสงกระสือกับพี่ต้นบ้างครับ /khrai ja bpai laa saaeng gra seuu gap phi Ton baang khrap/

If that sounds familiar to you, you either know your Thai ghosts or you've seen this or other movies like it:

Inhuman Kiss or แสงกระสือ /saaeng gra seuu/, starring Minnie Phantira, Oab Oabnithi and Great Sapol

A Krasue is a type of evil spirit that possesses women and, when going out to hunt, leaves the body behind to be a floating head with internal organs still attached. It's translated as 'filth-eating' because a Krasue is cursed to feed on blood, organs, carrion etc. Ton calls the mysterious green light แสงกระสือ /saaeng gra seuu/ (=light of a Krasue) because sightings of a Krasue usually report them looking like a floating red or green orb. In that regard, they're comparable to will-o'-the-wisps!

[visualtaehyun]

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

Tee's conscience vs. Non's fury

While Tee suddenly humanizes Non starts calling Non by his actual name, Non switches from his usual เรา /rao/ (= I; informal) + แก /gae/ (= you; familiar):

แกทำแบบนี้กับเราทำไมวะ /gae tham baaep nee gap rao tham mai wa/

...to กู /guu/ + มึง /meung/ (= I + you; both impolite):

ทำไมอะ กูต้องเป็นคนชดใช้ที่จริงกูไม่ได้ก่อ /tham mai a? guu dtaawng bpen khohn choht chai thee jing guu mai dai gaaw/

...and curses as he gets progressively more upset:

กูแม่งมีแต่เหี้ย ๆๆ ตลอดอ่ะ /guu maaeng mee dtaae hia hia hia dta laawt a/

Haunting the narrative

เราจะได้ออกจากที่นี่แน่ เราไม่ใช่ไอ้ขี้แพ้ /rao ja dai aawk jaak thee nee naae. rao mai chai ai khee phaae/ = I will get out of here. I'm not a loser.

I don't believe for a second that a character as headstrong as Non perished just like that. The uncle or one of his underlings for sure did him in. And I'm still wondering how or when the uncle himself died, as the newspaper clipping said that White found early on, and if it's even relevant anymore at this point - judging by the ep. 12 preview, next week is gonna be a hallucination-driven waking nightmare.

News, yet again

Police release footage confirming that teacher deceived schoolboy into running away with him

Family of MP Ekkachai discloses: son innocent, not involved in shady mule accounts

This didn't make the cut but if anyone wants to know anyway, hit me up:

pronoun changes between Tee & White and Phee & New

Tee's textbooks - I already started looking at the titles before I unpaused and White suddenly talks about engineering 🥴

Jin's call history - there's some overlap with Non's from ep. 8 so I don't think there's much significance in either of them

[visualtaehyun]

Today on- Random new Thai expressions I stumble upon:

ผักบุ้งลอยฟ้า Flying Morning Glory

/phak boong laawy faa/ = lit. water spinach/morning glory floating in the sky

So today I sat down to catch up on We Are and only got about 10 minutes into ep. 2. This entire scene and the lead-up to it already cracked me up with how Tan talks ("คุณมึงครับ" 555) and acts but then I looked up this dish and the way some restaurants make a whole show out of cooking it! Which is to say- this?

Accurate! It's also called ผัดผักบุ้งไฟแดง /phat phak boong fai daaeng/ = Morning Glory stir-fried over high-heat -> ผัดไฟแดง /phat fai daaeng/ = lit. red-fire stir-fry

They're missing the most ridiculous part though which is the toss at the end. The subs say flip but the word used is โยน /yohn/ and knowing what I know now, 'throw' or 'toss' is more fitting lol

Here's a clip of a restaurant in Pattaya preparing the dish:

...and a longer one from 1984 of a restaurant in Phitsanulok that shows the entire process and several throws (they also throw some ไข่เจียว /khai jiaao/ = Thai-style omelette):

Another tangent cause I can't not bring up Thai music- There's a song by Bodyslam of the same name, ผักบุ้งลอยฟ้า feat. F.HERO, that references this peculiar way of preparing the dish but goes a lot deeper. Water spinach is a really common vegetable and the stir-fry is easy and cheap to prepare so they juxtapose this modest dish with being a star and the temporary nature of that success while also expressing gratitude for their fans:

เพียงผักบุ้งลอยฟ้าหาใช่ดวงดารา /phiang phak boong laawy faa haa chai duaang daa raa/ = Just morning glory floating in the sky, not a star. ในวันที่ลอยฟ้าได้โปรดรับฉันลงจาน /nai wan thee laawy faa, dai bproht rap chan lohng jaan/ = On the day that I'm floating in the sky, please catch/accept me on [your] plate.

If you're interested in the full lyrics, you can read a translation here!

Anyway, that's how I lost about two hours to flying veggies! ...also, the reason why I'm never sure how to explain how I'm learning Thai, these odd deep-dives just kinda keep happening 🥴

---previously: ฟ้ารักพ่อ (Sugar daddy meme and song) | A pun on มุก /mook/

[visualtaehyun]

Pronouns, my beloved!

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

นี่คุณจะไม่เลือกผมจริง ๆ ใช่ไหม /nee, khun ja mai leuuak pom jing jing chai mai?/

-> คุณ /khun/ = polite, formal 2nd pers. pronoun -> ผม /pom/ = polite, formal, respectful male 1st pers. pronoun

As Mahasamut is the younger one, he might just keep using ผม /pom/ throughout the entire show, just as Sky did in LITA. What he calls Tongrak is surely gonna change though! คุณ /khun/ feels too distant for P'May characters - even LomNuea in Wedding Plan, who met in a professional context and long kept using คุณ /khun/, ended up switching to the more familiar and informal พี่ /phi/ to refer to Lom.

So my predictions include:

a variation on his name, e.g. Rak, instead of any pronoun (like Prapai calling Sky just Sky, no pronouns), or later down the line maybe just ที่รัก /thee rak/ (= lit. beloved, comparable to darling, honey etc.) as it's sweet and would be a lovely switcheroo from Tongrak ต้องรัก /dtawng rak/ (= have to love)

a more intimate pronoun like เธอ /ter/ (based on YiwaMarine from Wedding Plan foregoing seniority by having younger Rine call her older girlfriend เธอ /ter/ for most of the show)

or simply พี่ /phi/ (as a 2nd pers. pronoun) which- I was just considering how that might not be sweet enough for a P'May top but then the sheer potential of P'Rak พี่รัก /phi rak/ sounding so close to ที่รัก /thee rak/ occurred to me and now I'm gonna need that to happen!!

ต่อให้ผู้ชายทั้งโลกเหลือแค่นายคนเดียวอะ ฉัน ก็ ไม่ เอา /dtaaw hai phuu chaai thang lohk leuua khaae naai khohn diiao a- chan. gaaw. mai. ao./)

-> นาย /naai/ = informal male 2nd pers. pronoun (it's kind of filed away as the male equivalent to เธอ /ter/ in my head, even though เธอ /ter/ is perfectly usable regardless of gender but might sound too flirty to Tongrak, maybe?) -> ฉัน /chan/ = informal, familiar 1st pers. pronoun, not respectful or polite but also not impolite; used when speaking to someone younger/of lower status or between equals, is used predominantly by women, and in turn by men when talking to women

I love this choice so much! 1) Because both ฉัน /chan/ and นาย /naai/ rarely make an appearance in BL, from male characters, even though they delight me every time I do hear it in a BL (e.g. NuerSyn in Cutie Pie calling each other นาย /naai/ for a good long while), and 2) because ฉัน /chan/ can give both Mafia Boss (as can นาย /naai/) as well as Sassy and no, I shan't elaborate 5555

My prediction is that these too might change. ฉัน /chan/ here feels like- attitude? almost? Like both a level of self-confidence as well as some sass so I'd wager that mellows out into:

พี่ /phi/ (as a 1st pers. pronoun)

or he might just as well keep using ฉัน /chan/ (if paired with เธอ /ter/ for example that's like prime romance trope right there lol)

or, which I think is most likely, he'll just use his own name or variation thereof, e.g. Rak.

I remember seeing Peat tweet something aaaages ago when the announcement for Love Sea first dropped where he called Fort 'Mut' -

/diiao juuhr gan loei, ai moot/ = See you then, Ai'Mut!

Except this is spelled differently from Mahasamut's name because หมุด /moot/ (= pin/needle) is the phonemic spelling of the last syllable in มหาสมุทร /ma haa sa moot/. So! I think it's entirely possible that Tongrak's gonna call him Mut หมุด or Nong Mut น้องหมุด in the future.

คุณต้องรักมหาสมุทร /khun dtawng rak mahaa samoot/

= Khun Tongrak Mahasamut = You have to love the ocean. = You have to love me.

The Thai title is ต้องรักมหาสมุทร /dtawng rak mahaa samoot/ = TongrakMahasamut; Gotta Love the Sea; Gotta Love Mahasamut

[visualtaehyun]

Ep. 9 language notes

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

1 year before Non's disappearance

whatchu doin? sleeping? still doing homework you? gonna go shower mh why? gonna shower too?* you dick hahahaha 🤨 see you tomorrow~ ok see youuu 😊

*This is just dirty implication rather than wordplay, but in trying to find out if Phee did make a pun on อาบน้ำ /aap naam/ (= shower, bathe), I learned a new word which I felt it was only fair to inflict on y'all in all its 'love juice' equivalence, considering how much it fits with the straight-outta-porn vibes of the PheeJin NC: น้ำรัก /naam rak/ = lit. love fluid, slang for semen, cum 🌚 You're welcome for the very useful vocab lesson lmao!

Revealing strong picture evidence - Teacher lures student into running away with him

As expected - Police reveals picture evidence of young male teacher taking schoolboy aboard long-distance bus. Rush to file charges on the basis of abduction of a minor

From the moment the police officer received the report from the parents of young A (fake name) about their son disappearing from their home, without anyone knowing where he'd gone, he feared that the young male teacher [the boy] was close to had lured him away. After receiving the report he therefore took the lead in the search.

[This was a lot of new vocab for me so take this translation with a grain of salt, please!]

The dad switches from พ่อ /por/ + แก /gaae/ (= father/dad used as 1st pers. pronoun + familiar 2nd pers. pronoun) to กู /guu/ + มึง /meung/ (impolite 1st + 2nd pers. pronouns). He also curses:

แต่สุดท้ายไม่มีเหี้ยไรดีสักอย่าง /dtaae soot thaai, mai mee hiia rai dee sak yaang/ = But in the end, there's not a single fucking good thing [about you].

[visualtaehyun]

Back on my bullshit! Silly vampire romcom edition 🧛‍♂️🩸

Disclaimer: not a native Thai speaker, still learning 🙏

The title

Pun พัน /phan/ means 'thousand' so the English title is a fucking pun on the character names/ship name which I only realized because of MDL: 1000 Years Old -> 1000YO -> PunYo (พันโย)

And the Thai title อายุมั่นขวัญยืน /aa yoo man khwan yeuun/ means 'long life'!

Master

In the intro, every character and every single other credited person or group (yes, the cat too lol) is presented as ท่าน (...) /taan .../ - probably because that's how Pun addresses Yo:

กลิ่นท่านหอมเหลือเกิน /glin taan haawm leuua geern/ = Your scent is too good.

Subbing ท่าน /taan/ as Master that one time is a nice choice because it can be both a pronoun and a title and it's very formal, polite and respectful. It's mostly used for someone of high authority or prestige or when publicly addressing an audience (like- Ladies and Gentlemen) or when speaking to an important customer, for example. So I'm a bit surprised that Yo hasn't commented at all on Pun's pronoun choice lmao

Whomst

She's just there?? Not talking??? Like all the time! My headcanon right now is that she's Pak's girlfriend, based entirely on how she keeps sitting next to her and that she fed her fruit in the car.

Whomst 2: Electric Boogaloo

I dub thee Mystery Lady, you funky colorful little gumball you

The landlady

Almost bulldozes right into Yo, clearly pushes him into the haunted apartment and funniest of all (to me at least lol)

เย็ดแม่มัน /yet maae man/ = "Fuck its mother" or "Motherfucker, it-"

The one time a swear is faithfully subbed and also the only time I've ever heard anyone swear to this extent in a Thai show 😂 Caught me so off-guard that I had to pause for air djdhsjds

[visualtaehyun]

Thai QL fandom 101

ซีรีส์วาย /see ree waai/ = "Y series", Y standing for Yaoi -> BL shows

ซีรีส์ยูริ /see ree yuu ri/ = "Yuri series" -> GL shows

คู่จิ้น /khuu jin/ = shipped couple; the word จิ้น in there comes from the English imagine -> a working partnership between two artists, you might see it romanized as koojin on twt and co.

คู่จริง /khuu jing/ = real couple -> it's a pun on koojin and often used to ask if they're a ship or real

แฟน ๆ /faaen faaen/ or แฟนคลับ /faaen club/ = fans -> since the word for 'partner/bf/gf' is also แฟน /faaen/, artists usually make sure to call fans either of these two, or:

มัมหมี /mam mee/ = mommy; the word หมี in there means bear -> fans are called mommy both by their artists and calling themselves like this, it encompasses all fans, they often call their chosen artists their baby

มัมหมา /mam maa/ = mama; the word หมา in there means dog -> this is also a word to call fans but these fans are actually attracted to their chosen artist or, even funnier, attracted to the other half of that artist's koojin 😂 so you could be a mommy of NetJames and dote on James like your son but thirst after Net lmao

ชื่อด้อม /cheuu dawm/ = "name [of] dom", fandom name -> Thai artists usually have a name for their fandom, e.g. Becky Armstrong > BeckysAngels, GeminiFourth > KhunNoo, so there's even more ways to address fans

กัปตันเรือ /gap dtan reuua/ = captain of the ship -> another person or artist who's close to a koojin who posts content of them, is seemingly always present during their moments, or actively ships them themself, e.g. Kong is the self-proclaimed captain of the KengNamping ship

(from DMD Friendship The Reality EP.3)

ในฐานะที่ผมเป็นกัปตันเรือ [...] /nai thaa na thee pom bpen gap dtan reuua/ = As captain of their ship, [...]

ขายจิ้น /khaai jin/ = "sell a fantasy"; contains the same จิ้น as in koojin -> doing fanservice

(from รถทาเลนท์ EP.21)

ขายจิ้นแน่ ๆ !!! /khaai jin naae naae/ = Fanservice for sure!!!

งอน /ngawn/ vs. ง้อ /ngaaw/ = sulk vs. try to make up with (previously explained here but you could also google 'ngon ngor')

อ้อน /aawn/ = act cute, plead, this emoji 🥺 lol -> comparable to Korean aegyo (애교) but is more used to describe being cute and clingy or acting like a kid with relatives or elders, someone who is/behaves like that can be described as ขี้อ้อน /khee aawn/, e.g. Sea Tawinan gets described like that all the time in bts content of Last Twilight

(from Before Last Twilight)

ซีในกล้องเนี่ยะ เขาจะเป็นคนที่ขี้อ้อน /Sea nai glaawng niia khao ja bpen khohn thee khee aawn/ = Sea on set- he's a clingy/affectionate person.

[visualtaehyun]

I wanted to talk a bit about how our two sets of besties in Naughty Babe (and Cutie Pie) talk to each other because the interactions in episode 3 especially were so funny and I want everyone to understand the intricacies!

Disclaimer: not a native speaker of Thai, still learning 🙏

(Because they're all color-coded in the show, I shall use everyone's respective colors - Diao, Yi, Lian, Kuea)

Last week, I already talked about the scene wherein Yi asks what he usually calls Diao. The short answer: Yi calls himself เฮีย /hia/ (a polite pronoun for an older male, that's of Chinese origin and technically means older brother) and Diao he mostly calls น้องเดียว /nong Diao/ (น้อง /nong/ likewise refers to someone younger, technically meaning younger sibling). Here for example:

น้องเดียวป้อนข้าวเฮียหน่อยได้ไหม /nong diao bpawn khao hia noi dai mai/

Yi speaks differently with different people though!

Yi and Lian

They both use the rude informal pronouns กู /guu/ (= I) and มึง /mueng/ (= you) with each other. Hence why it was so funny that an amnesiac Yi proceeded to use the formal polite pronouns ผม /pom/ (= I) and คุณ /khun/ (= you) when Lian first entered his room, considering how he freaked out earlier and used rude pronouns with Diao (which I also talked about last week).

So this?

รักอี้น่ะ /rak Yi na/ อี้ก็รักเหลียนน่ะ /Yi gaw rak Lian na/

Referring to themselves and each other by their names is not just super cutesy but also wildly out of character for them. 😂 And it's also more sickenly sweet than how Diao and Kuea actually talk to each other!! So let's take a look at them.

Diao and Kuea

Diao calls himself by his own name, so mostly เดียว /Diao/, (which makes him sound cute) and he calls Yi เฮีย /hia/. In fact, he seems to refer to himself as such with basically everyone he's close to so also with Kuea and Yi's dad Makorn. He's a Sweet Polite Boy so he only adjusts his register and formality levels, depending on who he's speaking to. Talking to Yi, we can see him using the polite ending particle ครับ /khab/ and here for example he uses a more formal word for 'eat', ทาน /taan/.

วันนี้เฮียยังไม่ได้ทานอะไรเล้ยนะครับ /wan nee hia yang mai dai taan a rai loei na khap/

I've only noticed him switch to the polite, more formal pronoun ผม /pom/ (= I) with the guards so far (it's also less intimate-sounding than using his own name).

งั้นเดี๋ยว ผมไปปลุกให้นะครับ /ngan diao pom bpai bplook hai na khap/ (Don't let the romanization fool you, this diao means 'Wait a minute', it's not his name.)

Kuea is similar to Diao, in that he uses his own name เกื้อ /Kuea/ and more polite speech with elders or people he grew up with, like his parents, Lian, and Yi. With Diao (and all his other friends as well!) he uses กู /guu/ (= I) and มึง /mueng/ (= you). Diao continues to be a Sweet Polite Boy though, he just doesn't use rude pronouns! With Kuea he uses names, so เดียว /Diao/ for himself and เกื้อ /Kuea/ for Kuea.

รักเกื้อน่ะ /rak Kuea na/ กูก็รักมึงน่ะ /guu gaw rak mueng na/

See the difference between the besties and why that imaginary scene between Yi and Lian was especially funny?

There's one more thing though...

Yi and Kuea

Notice how they're both color-coded red on the show? Yeah. There's a reason why they butt heads. Of course they both love Diao dearly and are protective over him but Yi and Kuea also have similar personalities. Combine those two factors and you get pettiness and snark lol

In episode 1, during their phone call, we hear how they usually speak to each other. The same formula as between Yi&Diao and Lian&Kuea applies: เฮีย /hia/ and เกื้อ /Kuea/ in both directions and Kuea also uses more polite speech, as he's the younger one.

อะไรครับเฮีย /a rai khap hia/ เกื้อไม่รู้ /Kuea mai ruu/

That all goes out the window when Yi interrupts Diao and Kuea's dinner get-together though 😂

แล้วมึงเป็นใคร /laaeo mueng bpen khrai/ มึงทำอะไรกับน้องเดียว /mueng tam a rai gap nong diao/

Yi has now used มึง /mueng/ (= you) with both the besties, except he was actually still amnesiac when he did so with Diao. Now though? He's just intentionally being a dick lol. So how does Kuea react? He keeps speaking politely! Even going more polite and distant in parts of the scene, like Diao does with the guards, he suddenly switches to ผม /pom/ (= I) here:

I wanna highlight one more thing though that was already a joke in Cutie Pie. During the flashback scene at the bar/club(?), Kuea says:

ไอ้เฮีย [...] /ai hia/

ไอ้ /ai/ is often used in front of names or animal names to curse someone out. And the funny thing about the word เฮีย /hia/ is that it sounds close to the swear word เหี้ย /hia/ (one such animal word, it technically refers to a type of lizard). So ไอ้เฮีย /ai hia/ is just one tone change away from the way worse insult ไอ้เหี้ย /ai hia/.

Likewise- I'm gonna assume everyone's aware that in Cutie Pie, Lian starts the show calling Kuea หนูเกื้อ /noo Kuea/ (which is more a cute way to address a child but also stems from Kuea being from an aristocratic family so staff for example calls Kuea คุณหนู /knun noo/ = young master) but at some point Lian changes to calling Kuea just หนู /noo/ (which technically means mouse but in this case as a 2nd person pronoun is basically a term of endearment).

Now, the same word can also be patronizing. So instead of implying 'You're cute and tiny like a mouse', it can also be belittling. Combine that again with ไอ้ /ai/ and...

มึงพูดอะไรของมึง ไอ้หนู /mueng phuut a rai kawng mueng. ai noo/

Bonus round: the doggo

คุณหมาน้อง /khun maa nong/ = "Miss doggie/little dog!"

พี่เดียวสงสารเฮียจังเลยน้อง /phi Diao song saan hia jang loei Nong/ (Yes, this cutie calls himself พี่(เดียว) /phi (Diao)/ when talking to Nong. พี่ /phi/ is a polite pronoun for someone older, similarly to เฮีย /hia/ but not gendered, that technically means older sibling.)

ไอ้ตาโปน [...] มึง /ai dtaa bpohn [...] mueng/ = "Bulging-Eyes" (+ rude informal 2nd person pronoun) ถ้าแกอยู่ที่นี่ คนเดียวไปไหนไม่ได้ไกล /thaa gae yoo thee nee, Kondiao bpai nai mai dai glai/ (แก /gae/ is also an informal 2nd person pronoun but a lot less rude)

In conclusion:

Yi is a clown, Diao is everyone's favorite, and Kuea would fistfight anyone for his bestie. Oh, and I guess poor Lian is entangled in this mess too lol (watch him say 'I told you so' once Yi and Diao realize communication is key)