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Thai phrases › Humour, sarcasm, register-switching
How to say sense of time and place, propriety
in Thai
กาลเทศะ
gaa-lá-tee-sà
sense of time and place, propriety
gaa midlá hightee midsà low
Time + place: knowing what fits where. ไม่รู้กาลเทศะ is a serious criticism.
- Part of speech
- noun
In a sentence
- ใส่ขาสั้นไปงานศพ ไม่รู้กาลเทศะเลยsài kǎa-sân bpai ngaan sòp mâi rúu gaa-lá-tee-sà loeiWearing shorts to a funeral: no sense of what's appropriate.
The culture behind it
CULTURE
กาลเทศะ: the right Thai for the room
From the same situation: Humour, sarcasm, register-switching
- ประชดประชันto be sarcastic and spiteful
- แดกดันto sneer, make cutting remarks
- เหน็บแนมto make a veiled jibe
- กระแนะกระแหนto snipe, needle
- เสียดสีto satirise
- ถากถางto mock, ridicule
- จิกกัดto take a dig, needle (playfully)
- แซะto snipe at, throw shade
All 98 words and phrases in “Humour, sarcasm, register-switching” →
Your first 90 days of Thai
Jingjok teaches กาลเทศะ with audio, the tone drawn on screen, and a check on your own voice. Recognise sarcasm and veiled digs, be funny on purpose (set up, take and land a joke), and switch smoothly between boss-formal, everyday-polite and close-friend Thai.
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