บัวใต้น้ำ

Thai

Etymology

From บัว (buua, “lotus”) +‎ ใต้ (dtâai, “under”) +‎ น้ำ (náam, “water”); from Gautama Buddha's categorisation of persons into four types based on their intelligence:

persons of excellent intelligence, capable of understanding things quickly, are like lotuses above the water, which will bloom immediately once hit by sunlight;
persons of average intelligence, requiring further training or education in order to understand things better, are like lotuses at the water's edge, waiting to come above the water in the near future;
persons of low intelligence, requiring more diligence and perseverance than usual in order to understand things, are like lotuses under the water, still having hope to come above the water;
persons of no intelligence, yet lacking diligence and perseverance in developing oneself, are like lotuses under (or buried in) the mud, hopelessly unable to grow up to get sunlight.

Pronunciation

Orthographic		บัวใต้น้ำ ɓ ạ w au t ˆ n ˆ å
Phonemic		บัว-ต้าย-น้าม ɓ ạ w – t ˆ ā y – n ˆ ā m
Romanization	Paiboon	buua-dtâai-náam
	Royal Institute	bua-tai-nam
(standard) IPA^(key)		/bua̯˧.taːj˥˩.naːm˦˥/^(R)

Noun

บัวใต้น้ำ • (buua-dtâai-náam)

(idiomatic, derogatory, offensive) person of low intelligence; stupid person; idiot.

Related terms

บัวใต้ตม
บัวปริ่มน้ำ
บัวพ้นน้ำ