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Tui: The Kind Kham Mueang Word for Chubby
Tui (ตุ้, Kham Mueang reading tui) means chubby, plump or well-fleshed. It is a short, round, friendly-sounding word, and people in Northern Thailand usually say it with affection: to a baby with full cheeks, or about a round little piglet. It is also one of the words people ask about most on our Ask Moradok Lanna page (in Thai).
This post is part of our series Kham Mueang Word of the Week, where we take one Lanna word and tell the story behind it. Every word comes from the Moradok Lanna dictionary.
What does tui mean?
The dictionary glosses tui as "fat, well-fleshed, having much flesh and fat", the same as central Thai uan. It works for people and for animals, for example the pig (mu, หู), which the dictionary itself describes as an animal with "a fat body".
For someone or something both plump and short, Kham Mueang has a word of its own: tam tui (ตําตุ้, read tam tui), "short and chubby".
Tui pi di ngam: chubby in a good way
The phrase you will hear most often is tui pi di ngam (ตุ้พีดีงามฯ, read tui pi di ngam), meaning nicely plump, well-fed and healthy-looking. The dictionary's central Thai form, "tui phi di ngam", contains phi (plump, as in uan phi) and di ngam (good, fine), so the phrase sounds like praise rather than criticism.
There are other ways to say it: tui lui (ตุ้ลุ้, read tui lui) and tui ui lui (ตุ้อุ้ลุ้, read tui ui lui), which add ui lui (อุ้ลุ้, read ui lui) at the end. The repeated, rolling sounds make the word feel as round and soft as the thing it describes.
How to say tui kindly
People use tui most warmly about la-on (ลอ่อฯร, read la-on), children. To older relatives, a well-rounded child is a child who eats well, sleeps well and is strong. Round little pets get called tui with the same affection.
| Kham Mueang | Meaning | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| la-on tui pi di ngam | a nicely plump, healthy child | praising a small child or grandchild |
| ma noi tua ni tui nak | this puppy is very chubby | fussing over a pet |
| mu tui ui lui | a well-fed, plump pig | talking about the pigs you raise |
In these examples, noi (ห้นฯอฯย, read noi) means small (ma noi is a puppy), and nak (นักฯ, read nak) means very.
Kham Mueang words for body shape: plump, solid, thin
The dictionary has many more words for body shape. Here are a few side by side.
| Kham Mueang | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| เต้งฯตึ่งฯ | teng tueng | plump, sturdy and healthy |
| อู | u | plump, fuller than usual |
| พึ่งฯ | pueng | fat, plump, puffed up |
| ลํา | lam | stout, firm-fleshed and solid |
| ด้อฯง | dong | thin |
| ทอฯม | tom | to feed up, to cherish and pamper |
Summary
- Tui (ตุ้) means chubby or plump, for people and animals.
- Tui pi di ngam (also tui lui, tui ui lui) means nicely plump, and it sounds like praise.
- People say it with affection to children and about animals; be careful with adults.
- Related words: tam tui (short and chubby), teng tueng, u, pueng, lam, and the opposite, dong (thin).
Read the full entry for ตุ้ย in the Moradok Lanna dictionary, or meet another "tui" creature, black and shaggy, whose droppings turn to gold, in Maeng Si Hu Ha Ta: The Lanna Beast That Eats Fire.
Sources
- Moradok Lanna dictionary: ตุ้ย · ตุ้ยปีดีงาม · ต่ำตุ้ย · เต้งตึ่ง · ตอม
Practise the words from this article
Flip through 17 flashcards of the Lanna words used in this article.
