นกแก้วนกขุนทอง

Thai

Etymology

From นก (nók, “bird, used as a noun-classifying prefix”) +‎ แก้ว (gɛ̂ɛo, “parrot”) +‎ นก (nók, “idem”) +‎ ขุนทอง (kǔn-tɔɔng, “hill myna”); referring to birds that memorise and mimic the speech of humans.

Pronunciation

Orthographic		นกแก้วนกขุนทอง n k æ k ˆ w n k kʰ u n d ɒ ŋ
Phonemic		นก-แก้ว-นก-ขุน-ทอง n k – æ k ˆ w – n k – kʰ u n – d ɒ ŋ
Romanization	Paiboon	nók-gɛ̂ɛo-nók-kǔn-tɔɔng
	Royal Institute	nok-kaeo-nok-khun-thong
(standard) IPA(key)		/nok̚˦˥.kɛːw˥˩.nok̚˦˥.kʰun˩˩˦.tʰɔːŋ˧/(R)

Noun

นกแก้วนกขุนทอง • (nók-gɛ̂ɛo-nók-kǔn-tɔɔng)

1. (idiomatic, derogatory, sarcastic) person who well memorises and repeats what he has learnt without actually understanding it, just like a talking bird.
2. (idiomatic, derogatory, sarcastic) education in which students are taught to memorise things without actually understanding them.