There are three distinct levels of vocabulary all language learners must pass to become truly natively fluent. A beginner learns basic vocabulary, like ‘snake, cow, horse, pig, fish, and bird’. Branching out, an intermediate learner learns more specific vocabulary, such as ‘rattle snake, side winder, cobra, python, and serpent’. An expert learner would get even more detailed, learning the individual species names of each rattle snake: ‘diamondback rattlesnake, dusky rattlesnake, South American rattlesnake, Timber rattlesnake’, etc. Native speakers rarely learn this last level as its very specialist knowledge.

In the last post we learned the basic body parts. Now that you’ve learned a general list of body parts, let’s go to the intermediate level and get more specific with one of them: the hand (meuu1 มือ).

This article will teach you the parts of a hand, and other related vocabulary.

Let’s start with the finger names:

Thai	Karaoke	English
นิ้ว	New4	Finger
นิ้วโป้ง	New4 bong3	Thumb
นิ้วชี้	New4 chee4	Index
นิ้วกลาง	New4 glaang1	Middle finger
นิ้วนาง	New4 naang1	Ring finger
นิ้วก้อย	New4 gawy3	Pinky
นิ้วเท้า	New4 tow4	Toe
รอยนิ้วมือ	Roy1 new4meuu1	Fingerprint

With reference to the above list, chee4 ชี้ means ‘to point’, glaang1 กลาง means ‘middle’, and tow4 เท้า means ‘foot’.

 

Sometimes, instead of holding hands, a Thai couple would hold pinky fingers. This is called:

เกี่ยวก้อย

Giew2goy3

to hold pinkies together

 

ข้อมือ

Kaw3 meuu1

wrist

 

The Thai word for ‘grab’ or ‘to hold’ is jab2 จับ. To hold hands is:

จับมือ

Jab2 meuu1

Hold hands

 

The word for ‘raise’ is yok4 ยก. To raise your hand, to ask a question or whatever, is:

ยกมือ

Yok4 meuu1

Raise [your] hand

 

Practice raising your hand:

 

 

In English, an expert can be referred to as an ‘old hand’. You can also say this in Thai, where gow2 เก่า means ‘old’:

มือเก่า

Meuu1 gow2

experienced person, ‘old hand’

 

But that above expression is uncommon, so it’s better to say:

มืออาชีพ

Meuu1 aa1cheep3

experienced person

 

A beginner is called a ‘new hand’, where mai2 ใหม่ means ‘new’:

มือใหม่

Meuu1 mai2

novice, beginner

 

Your right hand is:

มือขวา

Meuu1 kwaa5

 

And your left is:

มือซ้าย

Meuu1 saai4

 

A cellphone, referred to as ‘a hand carry’ in Thai, is:

มือถือ

Meuu1 teuu5

 

A gunman has a gun in his hand, so he is a:

มือปืน

Meuu1 beuun1

Gunman

 

Someone who is empty handed, or unarmed, or whatever, is:

มือเปล่า

Meuu1 blaow2

empty handed

 

A second hand item, something already used, is just like in English:

มือสอง

Meuu1 saawng5

second hand

 

A ‘couple’ is called คู่. A ‘manual’, or instruction booklet, is the ‘couple’ for your hand.

คู่มือ

Kuu3 meuu1

manual

 

This following political term below has two definitions:

1) a euphemism for the monarchy and those in the inner royal circles

2) outside unknown individuals, not directly connected to any known political groups, but intent on causing political violence for specific political purposes

มือที่สาม

Meuu1 tee3 saam5

the Third Hand