More words that are easily confused

Massage/ message

When two familiar words are confused, the problem may be the way they are pronounced in Thai English. As everyone knows, the noun massage means to rub muscles and joints in the body with the hands. The word massage likely derives from a Portuguese word meaning the way that dough is squeezed when it is being prepared to make bread.

The noun message means some form of communication given to someone who is not being contacted directly. It can also be an official or formal communication, especially a speech delivered by a head of state to a legislative assembly, or a meaningful theme with social or moral importance. The noun message originates with a Latin term meaning to send away something.

Unfortunately, in Thai English, sometimes we see the word massage written where the author of an academic research paper or thesis means to write message. This is surprising for readers who were expecting to learn something about a message and suddenly see themselves reading about a massage.

Since in Thai pronunciation of English, the word message is sometimes said like massage, it is understandable that some students and others confuse the spelling. Still, it is worth keeping the two words separate, perhaps by inventing little sentences to remind us of their different letters:

The message was that the situation is a mess.

The massive injured football player needed a massage.

Some usage examples:

• The message from experienced local lifeguards was simple: “Please rescue us. We are in danger of drowning ourselves. Our teams may not survive.” Eroding support from the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation has left most of Phuket’s beaches without lifeguard coverage. Monsoon season has just begun and Phuket’s ocean waters are dangerous and remain unguarded.
• Read recently of your decision to switch off the print version and go with an all-digital strategy. While I commend you for the eco-friendly message this sends, personally I prefer the print version and have been buying it daily. While many things have moved on, newspapers have proven to be something most individuals love to hold in their hands.
• Getting the message. As online messaging apps eat into SMS revenues and threaten voice market share, mobile operators look for new ways to stay relevant and profitable… WhatsApp now delivers about 30 billion messages a day. In China, WeChat doubled its user base to 200 million in only six months. In South Korea, 90% of mobile phone subscribers use KakaoTalk every day.
• Catwalk dreams now start with message on Instagram. Once upon a time it was a young girl’s dream to be stopped in the street like Kate Moss and be asked to model in a fashion show. Now fame comes via a message on Instagram. Last week Leya Ljaz, a 17-year-old Pakistani-American who lives in Switzerland, jumped on a train for Paris with her smartphone and a dream of making it onto the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week.
• The message of the medium. Thailand’s depictions of the silver screen are often fraught with biased views of Thai women, culture. Thailand has long been captured and presented through the world’s lens. Films like Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s Chang and Around The World In 80 Minutes With Douglas Fairbanks have brought foreign film crews to the country since the 1920s and earlier. And over the years, Thailand continued to be featured in various blockbusters and independent projects. But what sort of image do foreigners see of our country? And what are the common “Thai” themes or characters they choose to feature in their projects?
• Application for cultural recognition of Thai massage sent to Unesco. Thailand has already submitted its application for “Nuad Thai” traditional massage to be added to Unesco’s World Cultural Heritage list and the result should be out by November this year, said Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat on Tuesday. The minister was confident that Unesco would approve the inclusion of Nuad Thai, as Thailand had high hopes for this proposal and had presented extensive information and details about traditional Thai massage and why it belongs on the list.
• Panasonic taps robotic engineering for new body massage chair. A massage chair that helps relax the body from the foot to the neck will be launched in Japan from August 1. The new Panasonic massage chair, priced at approximately 500,000 yen (Bt141,000), comes with a user-friendly, touch-type operation panel. The company said the easy-to-see screen and easy-to-understand operation would make it possible for people of all age groups to operate the massage chair without stress.The chair comes with airbags for the back of the upper arm, one each on the left and right for the massage of both upper hands. The massage chair offers a new feature: users can select their favourite massage from the touch screen. Massage progress is displayed in real time.The company said robotic engineering has enabled internal massage heads to provide a total range of massaging motions to replicate the dexterity of the human hand for a more natural, relaxing and effective massage experience.
• Three-year wait for massage licences ‘too long’. A group of trained Thai traditional massage practitioners on Thursday petitioned the Public Health Ministry to speed up their licence application process, complaining that over 17,000 had been waiting more than three years for licences… Though they have completed the standard training required to apply for a professional massage licence, the practitioners cannot start working until they have collected the licence, said Ms Pranpriya… Thousands of massage practitioners who completed their training in 2016 are still waiting for licences, she said, adding that three years was too long to wait.
• Mass massage record broken. Thailand set a new Guinness World Record for mass massage at a health expo on Thursday. Department of Health Service Support director general Somchai Pinyopornpanich said the world’s largest mass massage, organised by the Ministry of Public Health, drew 641 pairs of participants. The masseuses performed 19 postures on the recipients for 12 minutes straight. The previous record was set on March 30, 2012 in Australia where 263 people were massaged simultaneously for five minutes. Mr Somchai said all the 641 masseuses had been certified by the health ministry and the session was observed by Guinness World Record officials. “The massage session today will spread word of Thai massage across the world,” he said.

 

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)