If you go to any area that attempt to cater to tourist or the expat community, they are going to have a menu in English. I shouldn't complain (and I don't) that they frequently get the translation of the menu so wrong that you don't even know what it is but it is really common. This one is one that i have seen mis-translated in multiple locations throughout the city, which leads me to believe that there might be a menu template out there that everyone is sharing.
Either that, or they are using Google Translate or something like that... which is fantastic for most western languages but pretty useless as far as Thai is concerned. If you want to see something funny type a reasonably complicated sentence into Google Translate from English to Thai. The copy the Thai, paste it on the right hand side and then translate it straight back to English. I can all but guarantee that it will NOT be what you originally typed in.
Off to the menu item
The first part of this word is pronounced "Geng" and this is just a blanket word for curry. It is a word used incorrectly depending on what your definition of curry is because many of the curries don't actually have any curry powder in it in Thailand. I don't know if that is a requirement in order to qualify as "curry" or not. I'm not a chef.
The second part of the Thai word is pronounced "Om"and it begins there there is a + symbol over what appears to be an ampersand. I do not know what this word means, but it does NOT mean technologists.
It's funny because the word for "technologist" is "nak teck-noll-oh-yee" with "nak" simply meaning a person that does a job. I might be a little bit wrong about this but it doesn't matter because it isn't something you eat, regardless.
I did not order this dish, but just out of humor the next time I go to this restaurant I might have to do so just to figure out what the hell it actually is. From the photo is appears to be a bunch of leafy vegetables sitting in some water with maybe some glass noodles.
It could be a fun adventure because one day in the past I ordered something that I had no idea what it was called "Yum Tua Poo" and ordered it just because of the word "Poo" in it and now it is one of my favorite things to order.
The adventures of being and expat in Thailand are pretty fun and the good news is that even if you get a dish wrong and you hate it. The amount of money that it costs is so insignificant that you can just order something else. 80 Baht for the small portion of Curry Technologists is less than $3, so it's a pretty inexpensive gamble.
I remember running into this frequently when I was visiting there a couple times. You are right that it is humorous and part of the charm. Mostly, you can still figure out what the item is though... this on the other hand, I can't make out what it could possibly be. You should order it and find out.
well i kind of have to now. I will the next time i am there. It's just some local shop so why not?
Old but gold! One of the many amusing things about life in Thailand. My fave resto years ago had an entire page devoted to "Horse Crap" One wrong letter and suddenly crab doesnt sound so delicious...:)
oh yeah, we have crap on a lot of menus up here and even though it is childish it always makes me laugh. "Spicy crap spaghetti" was on a giant vinyl sign outside of a restaurant downtown in the past year.
I have tried the google translator technique you mentioned before with other languages that I know and the same thing happens, it's not just with Thai I believe it's probably with all language's.
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I like the name of dish better in English, would only make some small grammatical changes so that it reads "Curried Technologists." As with all traditional recipes, there needs to be a myth/legend behind its origins, so I guess this one would involve some cannibalism.....hmmm.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ