Khmer word of the day: “laying”

laying = to play   Pronounced somewhere between “laying” and “laing”, with a soft ‘y’

This and the word for ‘heart’ are probably my favourite words. Not so exciting on their own, but for the compound words made with them. Heart words will come next, but here are my top 5 laying words:

chole = to enter;  chole laying = to come into a store or restaurant and not buy anything (play entering)

niyay = to speak; niyay laying = to make a joke, tease, or kid around (play talking)

dar = to walk; dar laying = to go for a stroll, go cruising, to wander around (play walking)

nyam = to eat; nyam laying = to eat anything that doesn’t involve rice (play eating)

mok = to come: mok laying = to come visit (play coming).

This is my favourite word today because my mom is mok laying – I’ll pick her up at the airport in an hour! Sad that I won’t get to see my Dad or brothers, but so so excited to see my mama, and soon my sister too. K’nyom bat yoo!!

 

2 thoughts on “Khmer word of the day: “laying”

  1. your mom! and your sister?! this was an amazing post. more like this please. can’t wait for the heart ones. winter is miserable, you are missing nothing. xo a

    • Yes!! I’m in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat’s town) with my mom right now, and we’ll meet up with my sister on the weekend and head to the beach in Thailand. Pretty dreamy!

      (my brain remembers that february winter is miserable, but my heart only remember friends in a warm pub with fluffy white stuff falling outside a foggy window)

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