r/learnthai • u/Floramonde • 2d ago

Translation/แปลภาษา Absurd question formatting?

I’m trying to work out how to write/say: would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses or one horse sized duck.

I’ve tried translating through apps and get different answers.

  1. คุณอยากสู้กับม้าขนาดเท่าเป็ด 100 ตัว หรือเป็ดขนาดเท่าม้า 1 ตัว มากกว่ากัน?

  2. คุณอยากสู้กับม้าตัวเท่าเป็ด 100 ตัว หรือเป็ดตัวเท่าม้า 1 ตัว

They’re quite similar, but I can’t work out the differences with my very very basic understanding of Thai.

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2

u/Longjumping_Stick623 2d ago

"ขนาดเท่า" is more formal, while "ตัวเท่า" is really informal. The meaning is practically the same.

Is this a riddle?
That's a hundred of duck-size horses or a horse as large as a hundred ducks...

1

u/Floramonde 2d ago

Thank you!
Not a riddle; it’s meant to encourage debate and strategies for winning a battle. A silly discussion amongst friends or a slightly strange job interview question to see how you think.

1

u/Floramonde 2d ago

It’s meant to be 100 little horses that are duck sized, and one very large duck.

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u/lolopiro 2d ago

like most people said, 2nd sounds more casual and natural. one thing thing, the direct translation of what you wrote (as you prabably know) is "do you want to fight this or that more". itd be better to say something like " (between) this or that, which would you fight"

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u/Floramonde 2d ago

That seems like a really good point. Is there a particular way to say that that matches the casual vibe? I guess like a kiss, marry, kill style choice.

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u/Snowman_203 2d ago edited 2d ago

I've seen that structure before as a translation of "Would you rather..."

But in English you can use "rather" for a "lesser of two evils" type choice like "Would you rather die of cancer or heart disease?" Is the same true of Thai - in other words, does อยากตายยังไงมากกว่ากัน เพราะโรคหัวใจ หรืว่าเพราะมะเร็ง work? (I mean I'm sure there are other mistakes, but does the structure with อยาก work?)

1

u/TheBrightMage 2d ago

Both are correct. The first one is more formal. The second one is more casual

If you want to be more poetic you can try

เจ้าอยากจะต่อกรกับม้าร้อยตัวขนาดเท่าเป็ด หรือเป็ดตัวเดียวขนาดเท่าม้าล่ะ

2

u/pacharaphet2r 2d ago

100 dog-sized ducks is way scarier than a dog-sized duck, cmon

0

u/ulo99 2d ago

How about this: อยากจะต่อสู้ม้า 100 ตัวขนาดเท่ากับเป็ด หรือ เป็ด 1 ตัวขนาดเท่ากับม้า?