Thread: som nam na

Nemesis!

Originally Posted by Chairman Mao

Serves you right.

and such is Life, no more no less, Karma but you dont have to say it as a nasty Remark, just a neutral response, that me 2bht.................

Originally Posted by pescator

It has not.

"Nam Som" besides from meaning orange juice also means vinegar by the way. Spelled the same way.
น้ำส้ม "nam som" som = falling tone.

สมน้ำหน้า
"som nam na"
literally "deserve water face" Doesn`t take alot of effort to figure out the meaning.

"som" rising tone meaning deserve.

สม "som" is also used in a word which I feel confident that the esteemed members of this board hear directed towards themselves on a regular basis.

เหมาะสม Maw Som, appropriate.

Thx for explanation.
But for the dull-witted, pls explain what is so bad about getting water in the face ?
I could understand if it were mud in your face, but water ?

Is there some thai culture analogy I miss here ? Pescator, it did take a lot of effort for me to try to figure out, and I failed.

Siia na maak maak

I'm not 100% certain but I'm fairly sure น้ำหน้า means a person like that/you/her etc so สมน้ำหน้า just means it's appropriate for you.

น้ำหน้า means a person like that/you/her

it does, but used in a sarcastic and insulting way.

Example: ผมเชื่อว่าน้ำหน้าอย่างเขา ไม่มีทางทำอะไรสำเร็จ,

Thai definition: หน้า ซึ่งใช้ในความหมายแดกดัน รังเกียจ หรือ ดูหมิ่น เป็นต้น.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

The literal translation is "deserved or appropriate water in the face" สม : deserved, appropriate (not orange, orange is spelled ส้ม and pronounced with a falling tone. สม is a rising tone) น้ำ : water หน้า : face, front of head

There seems to be disagreement on literal translation.

Does "som nam na" have anything to do with water ?
I

no, in colloquial usage it means "serves you right", in other words "you deserved whatever bad thing just happened to you"

"what goes around, comes around"

Originally Posted by taxexile

no, in colloquial usage it means "serves you right", in other words "you deserved whatever bad thing just happened to you"

yes, yes, I got that the meaning is the same as "Serves you right".

I was curious about what the literal translation is. I think it is interesting to learn the background for such.
If it is "deserved water in the face", then I was wondering what is so bad about water in the face.
I mean at Song Kran people get drenched ?

Any takers ?

I could be wrong, but I don't think nam-na is analysable down to nam and na. As I said in my post above, nam-na means 'a person like x'.