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Mags Meanderings:
From Som Tam
To Mushy Peas
toelining
Did you spot last weeks’ deliberate mistake? The
missing ‘word of the week’? Which just goes to show
that the little grey cells don’t always do what you would
like them to.
So to make up for it here are two words which both
show just how contrived our language is becoming.
First is ‘frenvy’, to envy a friend. Next is ‘gaydar’, the
sixth sense which enables homosexual people to
recognise those of a similar persuasion.
It seems that anyone can join in the fashion for making
up new words by joining together parts of other words,
so why not have a go? A few Singha might help you
along.
Speaking of which it was good to see that bottled
brew on sale in a local bar over here last weekend.
Unfortunately it wasn’t hot enough to sit outside and
do it justice with bottle, glass and a bucket of ice, and
they would probably charge extra for the ice anyway.
Meanwhile Thailand was dealing with the crucial issue
of TV soaps, which are a bad influence on the masses
and need to be re-written. The Powers That Be clearly
don’t watch Eastenders, or even Emmerdale, which
could no doubt benefit from David Camerons’ personal
intervention. I’m sure the voters of the UK wouldn’t
object at all to him fitting in a little script writing in
between bombing Iraq and trying to persuade his MPs
not to defect to UKIP.
Of course Cameron does have a democratically elected
sidekick in the shape of Nick Clegg, who could be glad
of something useful to do.
And speaking of democracy, it is a concept which
still seems to puzzle Thailand. So much so that from
November it will become a subject in every school
curriculum. Staff in the countrys’ Education Ministry
have been told by the Electoral Commission that in
other countries, which are already fully developed
democracies, people are provided with the freedom
and rights to express their views ‘within a framework
of discipline and observation of regulations’.
I wonder just how much of Thailands’ new democracy
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teaching will focus on those two words ‘discipline’ and
‘regulations’, and how much on ‘freedom and rights.’
Because along with the need for things like public order
and the absence of corruption, the most basic principle
of democracy is to allow for freedom of thought and
the right to choose our representatives. Surely a good
way to start would be for children to be allowed some
freedom of thought and expression? Even if that does
include the freedom to watch TV programmes which
haven’t been doctored by the government.
Editor’s note: The title of this week’s THAB was the
perfect excuse to make up a word as Mags’ suggested
- ‘Toelining’, from the made up verb ‘to toeline’ which
gives us the noun ‘toeliner’; the meaning is the act of
toeing the line or obeying the rules. A kind of description
of what Thailand’s government is currently trying to
get the population to do.Now, can our readers do any
better? Take up the THAB challenge and make up some
words and their meanings, and send them to Mags at
[email protected], and she will feature the best ones
in a future column, particularly those that reflect on
some of the aspects of living in Thailand.
17
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