Thai, Lao: มันขี้ ມັນຂີ້

[Johnnypolyglot]

มันขี้ [mān˧ kʰîː˥˩]

ມັນຂີ້ [mán˥ kʰ᷆ıː˧˩]

(For those who can’t read IPA), it sounds like someone is saying the English word “monkey” (this is just to give you an idea and I am not saying it sounds exactly like this word).


I heard some Thai teenagers use this phrase while playing a video football game at a game kiosk in the airport. I heard it more than one time, so I got a pretty good idea of the tone and the spelling (but I could be wrong, so don't assume my spelling or phonetic interpretation is correct). This is a slang phrase and I wasn’t able to find it in a Thai dictionary (probably because it's slang). I have a general idea as to what it means (possibly), but I want to hear from native speakers on this.


If you are a ไทย or ລາວ speaker, then please give your interpretation on this phrase. Please no Google, copy, paste on this one. Answer with your own knowledge. There are no wrong answers because you are just telling me what you think it means to you.


I did try asking asking some locals, but because it contains profanity, they gave me the usual “มันขี้ไม่มีความหมาย” (“man khi” has no meaning) (this is code for it has meaning, but I am not telling you because it’s awkward to explain. This is kind of like when you ask a Thai about the phrase ฝรั่งขี้นก (bird sh%$ foreigner) and they play dumb like they never heard of this phrase before).


I do have my own interpretation of the phrase “man khi”, but I don’t want to type it here because I don’t want to unnecessarily influence the answers. I want to get interpretations from others first.

 

[Johnnypolyglot]

Update: I was able to find a native Thai speaker that explained the meaning to me. มันขี้ is an expletive used to express emotion or sentiment. Gamers will often use it during the course of a game. This definition was in agreement with the definition I had.

 

[EternoBGV]

As a Thai, I've seen this phrase used once or twice in an online game, but never in everyday conversation. Actually, the phrase can be translated literally as "He/she takes a shit" (มัน in this context is a colloquial 3rd person singular pronoun, and ขี้ means 'shit' or 'to take a shit').

However, that has nothing to do with the video game. If you go ask a random person who isn't (or hasn't been) a gamer, of course he/she will say that "It has no meaning", because the first time you hear it, it sounds unfamiliar, like an incomplete sentence, and we don't have to say "Someone is taking a shit" that often in everyday life.

I imagine that if it functions as an interjection, it would be used to express the extreme enjoyment the gamers receive while being engaged in a big, long fight, or after beating a strong opponent in the game. The word มัน in this context has the meaning of 'enjoyable' or 'entertaining' [colloquial], and ขี้ will be interpreted as a slang used to emphasize that feeling, like the word "f**king" in English does.

PS. The phrase will be phonemically transcribed in IPA as /mān kʰîː/.

 

[Johnnypolyglot]

PS. The phrase will be phonemically transcribed in IPA as /mān kʰîː/.

EternoBGV, my phonetic transcriptions in both Thai and Lao are correct. As you can see, I have enclosed my phonetic notations inside square brackets (not inside of slashes). A phonetic notation, inside square brackets, can include details of the pronunciation to give clarity. In my case, I have included Chao tone letters, as the macron and circumflex are ambiguous.

In the Thai pronunciation, the first syllable is mid tone and the second syllable is a falling tone.

In the Lao pronunciation, the first syllable is a high tone and the second syllable is a low falling tone.