ศาลาชุมนุม

[telstrareg]

If a woman always refers to her partner/husband as "มัน" when she is talking about him to her family and closest friends, would you say that is normal or a sign that she is not really respectful of him? I don't mean when a woman is talking to acquaintances or people she just met (then มัน would obviously be rude)

I have heard some people say that มัน is just female slang and that it just rolls off the tongue easier than other pronouns so that's why they use it. However, in any situation to me it seems a little disrespectful to refer to someone this way you are supposed to care about.

[bifftastic]

I think it depends. If the person also refers to other people like that, and they are people that she cares about, then that would be different from her only referring to her husband in that way.

[telstrareg]

I think it depends. If the person also refers to other people like that, and they are people that she cares about, then that would be different from her only referring to her husband in that way.

Good point.

I sometimes wonder if this is like a show of power for Thai women. Showing her friends and family that the husband is sort of like their pet and that they are in control of the relationship.

[Tgeezer]

If a woman always refers to her partner/husband as "มัน" when she is talking about him to her family and closest friends, would you say that is normal or a sign that she is not really respectful of him? I don't mean when a woman is talking to acquaintances or people she just met (then มัน would obviously be rude)

I have heard some people say that มัน is just female slang and that it just rolls off the tongue easier than other pronouns so that's why they use it. However, in any situation to me it seems a little disrespectful to refer to someone this way you are supposed to care about.

I would say it depends on what their family and friends call their nearest and dearest as compared with what she and they call a dog or cat. If the same word then definitely disrespectful in my opinion.

[daฟาน]

I heard a lot of girls calling their best friends มัน without any negative meaning behind it (no matter if the friends were present or not). As mentioned before by bifftastic, if they use it for their close friends too, I wouldn*t be worried honestly.

[telstrareg]

I frequently hear Thai women use มึง and กู with their closest friends and it's always been in normal situations when they are smiling.

I guess with all these pronouns, what they reveal about the speaker's attitude/feelings towards the person to whom they are directed depend on; 1) the context; 2) whether or not the person uses the same pronouns when talking about other people.

[Pirin]

If a woman always refers to her partner/husband as "มัน" when she is talking about him to her family and closest friends, would you say that is normal or a sign that she is not really respectful of him? I don't mean when a woman is talking to acquaintances or people she just met (then มัน would obviously be rude)

I have heard some people say that มัน is just female slang and that it just rolls off the tongue easier than other pronouns so that's why they use it. However, in any situation to me it seems a little disrespectful to refer to someone this way you are supposed to care about.

"If a woman always refers to her partner/husband as "มัน" when she is talking about him to her family and closest friends, would you say that is normal or a sign that she is not really respectful of him?"

We can't say anything about this unless we know the nature of that woman. If she is the one who naturally uses "มัน" to refer to her husband, that is the way she is. If she naturally uses other pronouns to refer to her husband, she is then rather impolite once she uses "มัน" to refer to him.

[tod-daniels]

I have heard thaiz both guyz and gurlz routinely address kidz and refer to their "significant other" with the term "it". I have heard it from several demographics of people in thai society; so DON'T anyone come back saying; "only uneducated thaiz do this , I would never do it "!

It is my experience this is ONLY done in their extremely close family or friend groupz. It would NEVER EVER be done around people they are not very very well acquainted with. Any way you slice it if a thai did that, they'd be talkin' down about their significant other..

[Edit to remove derogatory comments.]

[Jubei]

Are you sure she's not saying แมน? Which means more like Gentleman.