Did you know that in Thai, the word “poo” means “crab?” Or that “porn” also means “blessing?” Did you know that the Thai language is full of puns that are integral to the country’s culture? Unexpected translations and quirks like this abound in Thai. If you’re doing business with Thai consumers, you’ll find more success if you’re open to all these quirks when translating your marketing materials!
Homophones: Thai Translating with the Flavor of Localization
If you’re looking to do business with Thai customers, your translating efforts are likely to involve a lot of puns. Many Thai words have similar or identical pronunciations, but entirely different meanings. As in English, this language characteristic creates a wide range of puns, which are an inherent part of Thai culture. Businesses seeking translation services should allow their interpreters to make use of punnery, as it will help their materials speak to clients and potential clients even better.
Here’s one example that translation companies may come across: the noun “ฟาร์ม” means farm. When speaking quickly, this word sounds similar to the noun “ความ” or kwarm, which sounds like in “ความรัก” or kwarm-ruk.” Kwarm-ruk means love. As you can imagine, there are plenty of possibilities for verbal play that use the farm/love pun. While this wouldn’t be part of your text when marketing to an English-speaking audience, it will definitely help win the attention of a Thai-speaking audience (that loves puns).
Thai Translating With Humor
Most Thai people have nicknames that they get at birth. These names range from ordinary to the outright bizarre. Some nicknames are English loanwords (words that were adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification). For example, “Candy”, “Bee”, “Art”, and “Ball”. Some words in Thai may share the same pronunciations as in English, but have different meanings. These meanings are often peculiar or even potentially inappropriate in English. With potential linguistic awkwardness like this, companies that use official business translation services may also need to expand their ideas about cultural appropriateness when it comes to naming. Here’s one excellent example:
Thai Translating and Pushing Language Boundaries
In 2011, Ms. Saiyuud Diwong launched her cookbook titled, Cooking with Poo. At first glance, you might think this cookbook is too scatological for any kitchen. However, Ms. Diwong titled her cookbook after her nickname, Poo, which means “crab” in Thai (and is obviously slang for feces in English). She’s created an infamous catchphrase which she uses to promote her cooking school: “I cooked with Poo and I liked it.” This kind of openness to punnery might feel wrong or unprofessional in English, but has gained Ms. Diwong deep success. Allow your translation firm to offer you Thai punnery in its translations– even puns you might feel are rude or inappropriate. It could just be the ticket to landing more Thai clients!
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