Help translating an idiom

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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by taabarang »

"
Not enough flame could translate as "not very bright", perhaps?"

I suspect only in English.
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by timmydownawell »

timmydownawell wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:20 pm My friend in Australia has posed this question, maybe you guys can help. She writes:

"There's an expression in Khmer pronounced PlerPlern (I think). It literally translates as flickering lights but it described the excitement of people from the province when they see modern things they've never seen before. Can you see if you can kind out more about it and get the correct pronunciation and it written in Khmer?"


I'm guessing from my useless EN-KH dictionary it might be "Pleu Plerng" - but I could be completely wrong.

I assume it might be like the way we'd say in English that someone's face "lights up" when they are excited or delighted?

Any idea what the actual term is and how it's written in Khmer? Thanks.

EDIT: just to add she now tells me the term is used in a negative sense, as a put-down.
Just bumping this in case anyone else has any insight into this expression...?
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by taabarang »

Timmy is your friend in Australia a native Khmer speaker?
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by timmydownawell »

taabarang wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:27 am Timmy is your friend in Australia a native Khmer speaker?
No she just lived here at some point.
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by taabarang »

"No she just lived here at some point."

I think you understand my skepticism.
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

timmydownawell wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:44 am
timmydownawell wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:20 pm My friend in Australia has posed this question, maybe you guys can help. She writes:

"There's an expression in Khmer pronounced PlerPlern (I think). It literally translates as flickering lights but it described the excitement of people from the province when they see modern things they've never seen before. Can you see if you can kind out more about it and get the correct pronunciation and it written in Khmer?"


I'm guessing from my useless EN-KH dictionary it might be "Pleu Plerng" - but I could be completely wrong.

I assume it might be like the way we'd say in English that someone's face "lights up" when they are excited or delighted?

Any idea what the actual term is and how it's written in Khmer? Thanks.

EDIT: just to add she now tells me the term is used in a negative sense, as a put-down.
Just bumping this in case anyone else has any insight into this expression...?
ill see what i can come up with, but after Taa's wife not hearing of it, mine would probably only be guess work, but i can at least play around with the script
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

timmydownawell wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:20 pm My friend in Australia has posed this question, maybe you guys can help. She writes:

"There's an expression in Khmer pronounced PlerPlern (I think). It literally translates as flickering lights but it described the excitement of people from the province when they see modern things they've never seen before. Can you see if you can kind out more about it and get the correct pronunciation and it written in Khmer?"


I'm guessing from my useless EN-KH dictionary it might be "Pleu Plerng" - but I could be completely wrong.

I assume it might be like the way we'd say in English that someone's face "lights up" when they are excited or delighted?

Any idea what the actual term is and how it's written in Khmer? Thanks.

EDIT: just to add she now tells me the term is used in a negative sense, as a put-down.

right think i got it...
ភ្លឹបភ្លែត - Plurp Plaet - as a whole, Basically means to flicker like a light,
but... if you break it down
ភ្លឹប - Plurp - means to Disappear/Go out Suddenly
ភ្លែត - Plaet - means in a fraction of a second/quickly/instantly

with it being an Idiom maybe thats where it gets its negative meaning from as a put down,
maybe when they see something modern their light goes out/brain stops working, as they have no clue what it is/how to work it?

as i said before its just a guess as i myself havent heard it

Taas wife guess is
ស្តួចភ្លើង - Stuak Plerng - Thin Flame
ស្ដើងភ្លើង - Sterng Plerng - Thin Flame
ស្តួចស្ដើង - Stuak Sterng as a whole is the main word for Insufficient, each word seperately means Thin/meager, but together they add emphasis to mean insufficient, but sometimes words are shortened down to the first or second word to give the same meaning, im guessing the Ch/k is silent so that would give the Stooa Plerng is wife mentioned to mean "Insufficient Flame"

but going off your OP i think its the first phrase your friend was thinking, maybe if Taa's Wife can read my Khmer script she might have heard it?
:tophat: Mean Dtuk Mean Trei, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks :x
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by timmydownawell »

Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:32 pm
timmydownawell wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2017 3:20 pm My friend in Australia has posed this question, maybe you guys can help. She writes:

"There's an expression in Khmer pronounced PlerPlern (I think). It literally translates as flickering lights but it described the excitement of people from the province when they see modern things they've never seen before. Can you see if you can kind out more about it and get the correct pronunciation and it written in Khmer?"


I'm guessing from my useless EN-KH dictionary it might be "Pleu Plerng" - but I could be completely wrong.

I assume it might be like the way we'd say in English that someone's face "lights up" when they are excited or delighted?

Any idea what the actual term is and how it's written in Khmer? Thanks.

EDIT: just to add she now tells me the term is used in a negative sense, as a put-down.

right think i got it...
ភ្លឹបភ្លែត - Plurp Plaet - as a whole, Basically means to flicker like a light,
but... if you break it down
ភ្លឹប - Plurp - means to Disappear/Go out Suddenly
ភ្លែត - Plaet - means in a fraction of a second/quickly/instantly

with it being an Idiom maybe thats where it gets its negative meaning from as a put down,
maybe when they see something modern their light goes out/brain stops working, as they have no clue what it is/how to work it?

as i said before its just a guess as i myself havent heard it

Taas wife guess is
ស្តួចភ្លើង - Stuak Plerng - Thin Flame
ស្ដើងភ្លើង - Sterng Plerng - Thin Flame
ស្តួចស្ដើង - Stuak Sterng as a whole is the main word for Insufficient, each word seperately means Thin/meager, but together they add emphasis to mean insufficient, but sometimes words are shortened down to the first or second word to give the same meaning, im guessing the Ch/k is silent so that would give the Stua Plerng is wife mentioned to mean "Insufficient Flame"

but going off your OP i think its the first phrase your friend was thinking, maybe if Taa's Wife can read my Khmer script she might have a better idea?
Cool, thanks very much Jamie, and taabarang.
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boom
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by boom »

I would think, the word in question, is ភ្លឺតភើ្លន
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Re: Help translating an idiom

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

boom wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 12:44 am I would think, the word in question, is ភ្លឺតភើ្លន
but ភ្លឺតភើ្លន is not a word?
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