กำขี้ดีกว่ากำตด

Thai

Etymology

From กำ (gam, “to grasp; to hold (in the hand); to grip”) +‎ ขี้ (kîi, “excrement”) +‎ ดี (dii, “good”) +‎ กว่า (gwàa, “more; over; than”) +‎ กำ (gam, idem) +‎ ตด (dtòt, “fart”); literally "having shit in the grip is better than having fart in the grip".

Pronunciation

Orthographic		กำขี้ดีกว่ากำตด k å kʰ ī ˆ ɗ ī k w ˋ ā k å t ɗ
Phonemic		กำ-ขี้-ดี-กฺว่า-กำ-ตด k å – kʰ ī ˆ – ɗ ī – k ̥ w ˋ ā – k å – t ɗ
Romanization	Paiboon	gam-kîi-dii-gwàa-gam-dtòt
	Royal Institute	kam-khi-di-kwa-kam-tot
(standard) IPA(key)		/kam˧.kʰiː˥˩.diː˧.kwaː˨˩.kam˧.tot̚˨˩/(R)

Proverb

กำขี้ดีกว่ากำตด • (gam-kîi-dii-gwàa-gam-dtòt)

1. (idiomatic) something is better than nothing; half a loaf is better than none.