hammering down sticky-out nails
More of a Japanese expression, innit? (出る釘は打たれる/でるくぎはうたれる). Next you'll probably be telling us that monkeys fall out of trees there (ie, Thailand).
Last time we chatted to an expat in Thailand, our secretive subject stayed schtum about his identity because he was working illegally. This time around, Eddie Croasdell had all his paperwork in order, but after spending a decade in the country has decided the political climate was getting a bit hot so recently came home to …
You're more than likely right. I heard it used a lot in Thailand but that's no reason for me to believe it's Thai. Much of Thai culture is adapted from other Asian cultures, being a cultural crossroads, I'm sure privwrbs are adopted from other cultures too. Eddie
出る杭、not出る釘。
I found that comment intriguing, wonder if it might not have originated in Thailand?
There must have been some cultural influences both ways when the relationship was especially close.
I like Mr. Croasdell's comments on a few points, 'asbestos innards' is priceless. Wish we could have authentic Thai or Korean food, but too many people don't like chili.
Spices are what drove the old colonial drive...
Funny how we associate spicy food for regions that did not get the chili any sooner than we did (native to the Americas, Mexican food is unabashedly spicy).
Although there is a nice trend in the Oxford Indian restaurants where they add green chilis instead of powder.
Makes for a nice slow burn...
P.
PS. Icon - the only thing that kill a vindaloo...
>> PS. Icon - the only thing that kill a vindaloo...
Only because you've never encountered a real vindaloo.
The vindaloo comes from the Portuguese colonies in India, primarily Goa, and is a fusion of Portuguese and Indian cuisines. It is more sour, due to the vinegar used, than hot, due to any chillies. Additionally a "proper" vindaloo is made with pork - something you are quite unlikely to find in most "Indian" restaurants in Britain.
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出る杭、not 出る釘。
Maybe they're both right? I just looked up the expression in Jim Breem's dictionary and I got kugi/nail (or spike), whereas Wikipedia's list of Japanese proverbs lists kui/stake. Might be an issue of the phrase "doing the rounds" (going out of one language and then being brought back in in a slightly different form). The different versions might be due to mishearing, perhaps (an example of an "egg-corn", maybe?)? I can imagine "kugi" sounding quite a lot like "kui". The hard "g" sound might not be very distinct with some speakers, with only a slight glottal or nasal sound to distinguish it? Anyway, I don't really know because I very rarely heard the expression in Japan and I don't remember whether it was kui or kugi, to be honest.
It would be interesting to hear the author's view of how repressive and intrusive UK legislation and proposals are vs. Thailand.
I'm not saying this to promote a particular position here... I really would be interested to hear what an experienced IT professional who has left one country in part because he did not want to conduct unjustified surveillance thought of the position in the UK. ie. police state already, about right, or wild and free. Or. y'know, something more complex and nuanced than that.
"It would be interesting to hear the author's view of how repressive and intrusive UK legislation and proposals are vs. Thailand."
It would be interesting yes. But I've never been a sucker for the fallacy of relative privation ("it's so much worse in Thailand, so what are we complaining about"), and I think we need to be clear that, inasmuch there are 'nuances', these should not exist at the level of the IT professional, however senior or experienced. Judge says surveillance on those people there, IT professional says OK. Anybody else says surveillance on those people there, IT professional says NO.
I think we need to be clear that, inasmuch there are 'nuances', these should not exist at the level of the IT professional, however senior or experienced. Judge says surveillance on those people there, IT professional says OK. Anybody else says surveillance on those people there, IT professional says NO.
Judge says "surveillance on all people at all times, because we can never be too careful also it is now the law". As intimated at the end of this interview, and also as intimated by the so called "snoopers charter" we'll be revisiting due to the Charlie Hebdo tragedy in Paris.
How does an IT professional answer that?
Yep. Common saying when I lived in Japan 40 years ago.
Young Eddie gets a lot wrong. No "punitive import taxes" on Toyotas (Thailand's 2nd biggest EXporter after Japan), Mazdas, Nissans, Fords, etc, only on fancy imported stuff. Same with bikes.
And forget your Thai mansion, Eddie - as a foreigner you can't own land. Try condos.
Coup d'etat? Yes, and eagerly supported by all of us (with intelligence). The fascist Red Shirts, led by US puppet Thaksin, then his sister/daughter Yingluck, almost wrecked the country then stole rice crops from their own supporters. Yingluck's about to be tried for fraud, just like her daddy/brother, who skipped out.
Oh, the old "Thai is tonal" gag. Thai has 5 tones, English has 6. Can you speak English?
Phuket? Oh, the Ph=P, the u=oo and the k=g, and the t=d. Get it?
After living and reporting in Thaland for over 30 years, I tire of these ignorant "tourists" who don't speak Thai, don't understand the culture, politics or people, yet dribble a bibful on the situation.
เบื่อฝรั่งโง่ Look it up!
Oh, the old "Thai is tonal" gag. Thai has 5 tones, English has 6. Can you speak English?
I don't recall any English words with multiple meanings (like "down" or "render"), or English homonyms (like "there", "their", and "they're") having the meaning specified by the tone it is spoken in. In spoken English, meaning is determined by context alone, and tones are used purely for emphasis.
Does Thai really work the same way?
That's more pronunciation than tone I think.
Tonal languages the word is exactly the same but the pitch its spoken at changes its meaning. A lot of my Thai speaking friends who are also westerners tend to put on an accent that sounds a bit silly when speaking, me likewise, you can't really get the tones right otherwise. Its also hard to listen to when someone speaks it quickly, you can hear someone and its sounds like they are just saying the same word again and again until you start to get an ear in for the tone/pitch its at.
Last year I toured Thailand and lived for several months on Ko Tao. One of the British ex-pats I met was a web developer who reported that he was still working remotely for his UK employer but had cut his time down to 2 work hours a day. He would literally wake up at 7am, pull out his laptop, work until 9am, then get out of bed and go to the local bar for breakfast, and spend the rest of the day on the beach, hanging out with friends, and eating out at nice bars and restaurants. The income he earned was enough to do everything that he wanted to do and still have money left for savings, and he had no plans to ever come back to the UK. Seeing people back here working 12 hours a day so that they can afford a small house, I couldn't blame him.
Seeing people back here working 12 hours a day so that they can afford a small house, I couldn't blame him.
Being one of them, I can't blame him at all. It sounds nice.
I just wonder though, if the web dev was legally working remotely, or simply forgot to mention it to the Thai authorities and was living on a tourist visa. These things matter when you need to educate your child, or locate medical care.
Wish I'd done it in my 20s either way though!
The h signifies that the p is aspirated. The Roman alphabet is not used just for English so we shouldn't expect the letter combinations used by others to correspond to the sounds of English. The Royal Thai General System of Transcription maps Roman Alphabet letter combinations to Thai language sounds but those letter combinations reflect Thai, not English, sounds. Like many transcription methods the patterns are not intuitive. There are better Thai transcription methods but unfortunately the RTGS is the official one. There's more than one p sound in Thai, a transcription of ph signifies one of พ, ภ, or ผ. Phuket is spelled ภูเก็ต in Thai.