We were in the car a few weeks ago and saw a license plate that read, “Nit Noy.” Claire said, “gee, I haven’t heard that expression since Vietnam — what did it mean?” Well, it means “little bit,” but it comes from Thailand, not Vietnam. It was used a lot in Vietnam, but it apparently was picked up by GIs while on R&R in Bangkok…
Well, that got me to thinking — when you live or spend time in a foreign country, you tend to pick up certain words or phrases and more or less integrate them into your “everyday speak” at least while you’re in that country. Often times those expression stick with you throughout life. There are a few that I picked up in Vietnam that I use today — some more often than others.
Just the other day I used the term “dinky dao” when referring to something I heard on the news. Dinky Dao means very crazy, or crazy in the head. I don’t know if it’s significant or not that I use that term more often than I did for a while.
Tori oi (pronounced, “choyee oyee”) is a Vietnamese exclamation that means, Good Heavens, or what the Hell, or actually it can mean just about anything the user wants it to mean. To make the exclamation even stronger, you can say Troi doc oi (choyee duck oyee)
These words and expression have become just a part of my vocabulary over the years. I don’t think about them being foreign expressions. But sometimes when I use them I remember being where I was when I started to use them…
In Vietnam, the streets were flooded with machines called cyclos — three wheeled motorized vehicles with a seat on the front. A cyclo that was pedal or foot powered was called a pedicab.
The Vietnamese currency was piasters — we referred to it as “P’s”
The local beer was known as Ba mui ba and was call beer 33 because the label had a big “33” on it. It may have been the worst tasting beer in the world. It was rumored to be spiked with formaldehyde, but I doubt it… it would have tasted better with formaldehyde.
Sometimes both Claire and myself use the expression ti ti, which means “small.”
I’m not sure if it was the national dish, but nuoc man (pronounced noouk mon) is synonymous with Vietnam – a fermented fish sauce.
The Vietnamese women wore a (usually silk) brightly colored long dress with slits up the side over sort of baggy silk trousers — it was called an Ao-Dai.
During the war, especially, Saigon Tea was pretty famous. It was colored water (sometimes soda) served in thimble-sized glasses… it was basically the price of a hostess’ company in a bar. The hostess got a commission on each drink.
But enough about the past — just thought it was interesting how a simple license plate can turn your mind back to times past. So I’ll just di di mau (dee-dee maow) which means go away or “haul ass.”
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