Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Have questions or resources regarding Khmer Culture? This forum is all about the Kingdom of Cambodia's culture. Khmer language, Cambodian weddings, French influence, Cambodian architecture, Cambodian politics, Khmer customs, etc? This is the place. Living in Cambodia can cause you to experience a whole new level of culture shock, so feel free to talk about all things related to the Khmer people, and their traditions. And if you want something in Khmer script translated into English, you will probably find what you need.
MekongMouse
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by MekongMouse »

prahkeitouj wrote:If they just eat the grass is no problem, but some cows eat our plants. So praleng koh chawl is suitable to do in the forest,but in the village is a cause of argument.
What about the husband? One wife per province?
taabarang
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by taabarang »

For Samouth...
For Well I am illiterate in Cambodian and write idioms mostly for other foreigners who are likewise. I do enjoy input from the Cambodian readers however. There is no way that Roman characters will ever be successful in representing the phonemes of Cambodian, which is why I translate. I can simply say that it
works for me. That you have never heard of some of the idioms like chakua does not surprise me; nonetheless, regional variations aside, i am broadly understood throughout Cambodia.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
Samouth
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by Samouth »

taabarang wrote:For Samouth...
For Well I am illiterate in Cambodian and write idioms mostly for other foreigners who are likewise. I do enjoy input from the Cambodian readers however. There is no way that Roman characters will ever be successful in representing the phonemes of Cambodian, which is why I translate. I can simply say that it
works for me. That you have never heard of some of the idioms like chakua does not surprise me; nonetheless, regional variations aside, i am broadly understood throughout Cambodia.
What is Chakua ? Can you translate? Sorry for my ignorance about this. BTW, have you ever thought of learning how to write khmer?
បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។

If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
taabarang
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by taabarang »

Samouth asked, "What is Chakua ? Can you translate? Sorry for my ignorance about this. BTW, have you ever thought of learning how to write khmer?"
No, Samouth, I will never learn to write Cambodian. I am literate in four languages, and know five total counting Cambodian and that is enough for me. It is true I would learn more vocabulary but what would I read? Newspapers that can't speak openly, karaoke lyrics, poetry that should have died the moment it was conceived? I have in mind those classics like how a woman should behave etc. Sorry, we used to have poems like that too, but we outgrew them for other more challenging forms; we put them in a historical perspective and do not venerate as Cambodians do. In fact if we quote them it is usually a joke. Plus I live in a village where most of the people are illiterate or semi-literate. If I use words like pisada(pronounced pusada in our village) no one understands me. My mother-in-law is one of the few women in her age group who is highly literate. Her Chinese/Cambodian father wanted her to be literate so she could help out is his small village store. The other literate women in her age group, about 4-5 others went to school with her. The reason they went was because their parents thought if my mom-in-law''s parents were going to send her it would be OK. Why didn't most people send their daughters to school? They were afraid that if they learned how to write, they would write love notes and the whole value system and or virginity would be irreparably damaged. Not everything about Cambodia is lovable.

Now as for chakua, it means to weave in and out dangerously in traffic, particularly with a moto.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
Samouth
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by Samouth »

Why didn't most people send their daughters to school? They were afraid that if they learned how to write, they would write love notes and the whole value system and or virginity would be irreparably damaged.
This is completely right. This was the reason my grandma couldn't go to school. She is a pure Chinese, her father was originally from China and her mom was pure Chinese too but was born in Cambodia. In addition, in Cambodian society, there is a stupid belief that woman is born to take care the kitchen. That' why many old Cambodian women couldn't go to school. My grandma so regrets that she couldn't go to school otherwise she would be able able to read and write. However, we are so lucky as everyone in our family values education.
Now as for chakua, it means to weave in and out dangerously in traffic, particularly with a moto.
Thanks, i got it now.
បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។

If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
prahkeitouj
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by prahkeitouj »

MekongMouse wrote:
prahkeitouj wrote:If they just eat the grass is no problem, but some cows eat our plants. So praleng koh chawl is suitable to do in the forest,but in the village is a cause of argument.
What about the husband? One wife per province?
Do you mean praleng pdey chawl?
Praleng something / someone Chawl mean don't care about the thing/ someone. Praleng pdey chawl mean the wife doesn't care about her husband. Let her husband does everything even his action harmful to others, but the wife doesn't care what happend to him or others.
កុំស្លាប់ដូចពស់ កុំរស់ដូចកង្កែប
taabarang
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by taabarang »

Samouth said, " However, we are so lucky as everyone in our family values education." Yes, that is how it works; those grandparents who had no access to education, but knew the value of what they were missing instilled that value in their children who in turn passed it down to the grandchildren. Sometimes it's easier to know the value of something you don't have than to know the value of what you do have. And as for the notion that a woman's place is in the kitchen, I agree that this is an outmoded concept, however if you want good Cambodian food in our home, you'd better get me out of the kitchen and let my wife in.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
Samouth
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by Samouth »

taabarang wrote:Samouth said, " However, we are so lucky as everyone in our family values education." Yes, that is how it works; those grandparents who had no access to education, but knew the value of what they were missing instilled that value in their children who in turn passed it down to the grandchildren. Sometimes it's easier to know the value of something you don't have than to know the value of what you do have. And as for the notion that a woman's place is in the kitchen, I agree that this is an outmoded concept, however if you want good Cambodian food in our home, you'd better get me out of the kitchen and let my wife in.
Right. i feel so privilege. I have no problem for accessing to education. They are both so emotionally and financially supportive.

Haha, right, if i go visit your house i will ask your wife to cook for me. :)
បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។

If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
Sir_Quality_U_Feel
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by Sir_Quality_U_Feel »

taabarang wrote:Samouth said, " However, we are so lucky as everyone in our family values education." Yes, that is how it works; those grandparents who had no access to education, but knew the value of what they were missing instilled that value in their children who in turn passed it down to the grandchildren. Sometimes it's easier to know the value of something you don't have than to know the value of what you do have. And as for the notion that a woman's place is in the kitchen, I agree that this is an outmoded concept, however if you want good Cambodian food in our home, you'd better get me out of the kitchen and let my wife in.
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starkmonster
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Re: Stories, cows and husbands that wander

Post by starkmonster »

taabarang wrote:It is true I would learn more vocabulary but what would I read?
Facebook is always good for a laugh, there's a lot said on there that people wouldn't dream of saying face to face without anonymity. There's also lots of interesting non-fiction books in Khmer, these are often interesting because they seem to offer a different perspective to a lot of the books written by foreigners and the diaspora.

You can read old classics like Tum Teav. I'm currently reading a book that contains the winners of the national 2013 high school short story competition (available at Monument books), there's some excellent pieces of writing in there covering a really wide range of topics, it also uses modern language and context so is much easier to read than something like Tum Teav.
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