BananaBandit Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 ลูกครึ่ง from what i can tell, it translates literally to "a half-child" ...this sounds vaguely less-than-polite to me. i looked it up in my pocket dictionary (Thai-to-English), which provided the definition "half-caste" ...this sounds like the kind of term that could derail a political career in a farang country. is it acceptable to use the term ลูกครึ่ง in public? is it acceptable to call a ลูกครึ่ง a ลูกครึ่ง to the ลูกครึ่ง's face? is there a more polite term that essentially means the same thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 It's widely used and just means a half Thai and half some other rationality person not rude in my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColeBOzbourne Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 (edited) 36 minutes ago, BananaBandit said: ลูกครึ่ง from what i can tell, it translates literally to "a half-child" For it to translate literally to "a half-child", I think you would have to switch the order so it reads ครึ่งลูก. Kind of like ครึ่งชั่วโมง means a half of an hour, whereas ชั่วโมงครึ่ง means an hour and a half. I have asked people if they, or their child, is a ลูกครึ่ง and it did not bother them. Of course it was a friendly conversation. Actually calling someone a ลูกครึ่ง might be similar to calling them a 'farang' or a 'gringo'. I think it really depends on your tone of voice and if you are being friendly or not. Edited October 9, 2020 by ColeBOzbourne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgeezer Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 4 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said: For it to translate literally to "a half-child", I think you would have to switch the order so it reads ครึ่งลูก. Kind of like ครึ่งชั่วโมง means a half of an hour, whereas ชั่วโมงครึ่ง means an hour and a half. I have asked people if they, or their child, is a ลูกครึ่ง and it did not bother them. Of course it was a friendly conversation. Actually calling someone a ลูกครึ่ง might be similar to calling them a 'farang' or a 'gringo'. I think it really depends on your tone of voice and if you are being friendly or not. Not rude at all. Simply don't translate it. ครึ่งลูก means half of a child, which might be rude. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgeezer Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 (edited) Also the 2525 edition of the RID says ลูกที่เกิดจากพ่อแม่ ซึ่งโดยเชื้อชาติ ฝ่ายหนื่งเป็นชาวตะวันตก และอีกฝ่ายหนึ่งเป็นชาวพื้นเมืองทางตะวันออก child of parents which by race one is from the West and the other from the East of Thailand and notes (มักใช้ในทางที่ว่าไม่สุภาพ) Likely to be used derogatorily. However the later editions have changed the definition to child of parents of different nationalities and makes no comment. Edited October 9, 2020 by tgeezer Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdd Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Not rude, you can definitely use this word in public and with strangers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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