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Today's column is about the use of strange Thai words or phrases. Recently, during a morning radio programme, the announcer from the Public Relations Department used the phrase "ob oon rangkai" which is a translation of the English, "to warm up". I found it displeasing and believed that it might be grammatically incorrect because "ob oon" is not a verb but rather an adjective. The proper phrase should be "tam hai rangkai ob oon" or "to make the body warm". However, it may be too long a phrase and not as not "hip and cool" as using a shorter phrase.

If you split the phrase "ob oon", both "ob" and "oon", can be used as verbs: "ob kanom" (bake a cake) and "oon ahaan" (warm food). When used with the word body, "ob rangkai" means, "steam the body", which is grammatically correct but its meaning is different from "warm up", while "oon rangkai" is almost similar to "warm up" but not exactly the same.

When sports announcers refer to athletes stretching and exercising to warm up before the game starts, they refer to this as "oon krueng". This phrase has been used since I was born and has been well understood to be the correct translation of "warm up" and this phrase "oon krueng" is also grammatically correct.

Then why did the announcer from the Public Relations Department turn to the new phrase? I hope it was only a slip of the tongue and that the presenter will return to the old and proper phrase that is well understood and accepted by everyone.

There is another phrase that has emerged out of a literal translation from the English and that is "think positively", which is translated to, "kid buak". This phrase might not be grammatically incorrect, but it sounds unpleasant and I feel that it does not convey the total meaning of "think positively". When a person pronounces "kid buak", it sounds to me that he is speaking English and not Thai. The more proper translation of "think positively" is "kid nai ngai dee" or "think in good prospects" which sounds more Thai than "kid buak", which sounds too blunt and unpleasant in terms of good linguistic practice.

Another phrase that is wrong and is being used increasingly often among teenagers and young kids in their Internet chatrooms is "jing pa", which is a short form of the question "jring rue plao" or "Isn't it?".

The words are shortened to the point that they are really meaningless. I feel very irritated every time I hear kids using this phrase. How can we teach them to use the correct words when they feel that it's trendy to use the shortened versions?

Moreover, if we blame them for using improper words, they could counter that some grownups use even worse ones. It is so true that adult public figures use many improper words, some of them are impolite interjections. These public figures may not intend to use improper words. They simply pick up words with accentuated meanings to reflect the seriousness of the issue. However, these people forget that leading public figures are role models that the younger generation would tend to copy.

Therefore, leading figures must be mindful of their behaviour at all times. The higher your position, the more others will want to imitate the way you speak and the words you use. I fully understand that often these public figures choose words that have the correct meaning for what they are trying to convey. But they forget to exercise care when selecting more appropriate words with similar meaning. What is most concerning is that these people are big shots, and nobody can call this matter to their attention.

You may now think that I am an old grouch who still does not know how to fix all these problems. I still remember "A word a day in Thai", a famous TV programme hosted by Professor Kanchana Naksakul. I would like to see her back on TV again. But this time, the programme could be called "Refrain from using these words in Thai" or "To be or not to be in Thai", or any other name that would attract television audiences. In case Professor Kanchana is not available, should there be any other Thai linguistic gurus who are interested to host such constructive programmes, I do believe that several TV channels stand ready to allocate a time slot for this purpose.

Until next Monday.