สีซอให้ควายฟัง

Thai

a man playing a traditional Thai fiddle.

Etymology

From สี (sǐi, “to play”) +‎ ซอ (sɔɔ, “traditional Thai fiddle”) +‎ ให้ (hâi, “to; for”) +‎ ควาย (kwaai, “water buffalo”) +‎ ฟัง (fang, “to hear; to listen”); literally "to play a fiddle for a water buffalo to listen"; possibly partial calque from Chinese 對牛彈琴／对牛弹琴 (duìniútánqín, “like playing a zither to a cow”).

Pronunciation

Orthographic		สีซอให้ควายฟัง s ī z ɒ au h ˆ g w ā y f ạ ŋ
Phonemic		สี-ซอ-ไฮ่-คฺวาย-ฟัง s ī – z ɒ – ai ɦ ˋ – g ̥ w ā y – f ạ ŋ
Romanization	Paiboon	sǐi-sɔɔ-hâi-kwaai-fang
	Royal Institute	si-so-hai-khwai-fang
(standard) IPA(key)		/siː˩˩˦.sɔː˧.haj˥˩.kʰwaːj˧.faŋ˧/(R)

Verb

สีซอให้ควายฟัง • (sǐi-sɔɔ-hâi-kwaai-fang)

1. (idiomatic, derogatory, offensive) to waste time reasoning with a fool; to waste time giving advice, instruction, or explanation to a fool.