8.15.2006

Thai online laugh

People like to use "lol" to indicate laughing online, but I recommend the Thai Online Laugh: 5.

I discovered this at a Thai site that had a webcam on Koh Samui, and there was an area next to the webcam image to chat online. Everyone was chatting in Thai, and I couldn't understand any of it, but I kept seeing the number 5 everywhere. So at one point, I stepped in and asked (in English, of course) what 5 meant, and they said that 5 is "ha" in Thai, so when they want to laugh, they say "555" or however many 5's they want. So to them, "ha ha ha" is "555".

It's so cool, I use it now, and have to explain to people what I'm doing. I think it's something that we non-Thai speaking folks should adopt.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting, for it demonstrates that Internet chat is not a shared language worldwide. Where :-) and :-P are understood in (probably) every culture, it makes sense that *lol* would remain complete gibberish to some.

But may I cast you a warning regarding your attempt to adopt 5 = lol. I truly loathe it when Canadians attempt to integrate UKisms in their speech, when it only makes them look pedantic. If you are not understood by your interlocutor, then you're not communicating. Think pragmatic.

(ps - I'm currently at the Edmonton International Airport, awaiting my flight to Toronto. The day hath come!)

Anonymous said...

Delighful trivia that makes you LOL (555).

Good stuff here.

Anonymous said...

Well, I've adopted 5 as my own lol, and I just put "thai online laugh" in parentheses to explain to the person I'm communicating with. lol is like people are trying to say the word lollipop, but got stuck part way. ;)

Sticky: hopefully this blog is noteworthy.

Anonymous said...

AP: I forgot to say "welcome to toronto!" even though I don't live there. :)