Taste: rotchaat รสชาติ

As you can imagine in a culture which has produced arguably the world’s best food, there are many different words describing taste.

 

Instructions: Read each item, then click to hear the sentence. After Yai has finished speaking the Thai, repeat the sentence paying close attention to the tones.

When you have read and listened to each item, place your right hand over the words in each item and try to remember them. Click the again to see if you got it right, or to remind you if you forgot.

You can also download each sound file to your computer and load them onto your mp3 player (right-click, Save Target As).

spicy - phet เผ็ด  salty - khem เค็ม phom mai chaawp gin aahaan khem   ผมไม่ชอบกินอาหารเค็ม I don’t like salty food.
bitter, acrid - khom  ขม bia Chaang khom maak เบียร์ช้างขมมาก Beer Chang is very bitter.

sweet - waan หวาน gafaae nii waan geernbpai กาแฟนี้หวานเกินไป This coffee is too sweet.
sour - bpriaao  เปรี้ยว tomyamgung mai kaawy bpriaao ต้มยำกุ้งไม่ค่อยเปรี้ยว Tomyamgung is not very sour.

Smell: glin กลิ่น

   In the olfactory area, Thai has a pair of general terms covering good and bad smells - haawm หอม and men เหม็น. There are also several words for bad smells that don’t have specific English equivalents:
the pungent, sinus-invading smell of ammonia or urea - chun ฉุน

farang khon nan dtua men lae sai naam haawm chun   ฝรั่งคนนั้นตัวเหม็นและใส่น้ำหอมฉุน That farang smells bad and uses disgusting perfume.
how a meat or fish market smells on a hot afternoon - khaao คาว bplaa dtua nii men khaao   ปลาตัวนี้เหม็นคาว This fish stinks.

   Like English, Thai also uses taste and smell words as metaphors – for instance, the phrase ‘I like sweet girls’ means exactly the same in Thai.

phom chaawp phuuying waan waan ผมชอบผู้หญิงหวานหวาน I like sweet girls.
faaen khaawng phom dtaaengdtua bpriaao maak แฟนของผมแต่งตัวเปรี้ยวมาก My girlfriend dresses very chic and sexy (literally, sour).

Jaokhaawng raan khem maak เจ้าของร้านเค็มมาก The shop owner is very stingy (literally, salty).
khaawmrak khaawng raw reerm khom laaew ความรักของเราเริ่มขมแล้ว Our love is starting to turn bitter.

chiiwit jing mai haawm waan meuuan nai lakhaawn ชีวิตจริงไม่หอมหวานเหมือนในละคร Real life is not sweet and aromatic like the movies.
phom chun maak thii ruuwaa khao goohok ผมฉุนมากที่รู้ว่าเขาโกหก I was very upset to find out she had lied to me (literally, I felt like I was sniffing ammonia).

 And finally, the phrase you don’t want to hear about your wife:

phom daai yin reuuang khaao khaao khaawng khaw baawybaawy ผมได้ยินเรื่องคาวคาวของเขาบ่อยๆ I often hear raunchy sex stories about her. (Or literally, I hear stories about her that smell like bad fish. Mmm, very tasty.)

 

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