The Dynamic of Idioms and Thai Proverbs in the Popular Culture Period

Abstract

This article focuses on the study of modernized Thai idioms and proverbs on the Internet that have been changed by the attitude of society at the present time. The important factors that cause Thai proverbs to be changed originate from the government sector that would like to change the meaning of the proverb “Spare the rod, spoil the child” in Thai. This proverb means “if you love your children, punish them when they do things wrong”. The government sector would like to adapt the meaning to “if you love your children, hug them”. Consequently, people in the online society create a trend of adapting Thai proverbs on Twitter under the tag “adapting proverbs for a better society” by adding words, eliminating words or adding new sentences at the end of those idioms and proverbs. The purpose is to be sarcastic, or parodying politics, society, and celebrities.  Most meanings of these adapted Thai idioms and proverbs are to create a sense of humor for readers. However, if we consider the social contexts, we find that these Thai idioms and proverbs reflect much on the popular culture, such as, consumerism, alternative sexuality, beauty worship, the popularity of cross cultural assimilation, and the popularity of the usage of modernized communication technology.  A short trend of this phenomenon of playing with language, however, does not change the original meaning of Thai idioms and proverbs. They reflect that the new generation can creatively apply popular culture and globalization trends to the culture of language.