Etymology

From ฤๅษี ‎(rʉʉ-sǐi, “rishi”) +‎ แปลง ‎(bplɛɛng, “to alter; to change”) +‎ สาร ‎(sǎan, “letter; message; text”); literally "a rishi alters a message".

The term took its origin from a Buddhist jataka, the Rathasena Jataka. In the jataka, a queen, an ogress in disguise, ordered Rathasena (รถเสน Rót-tà-sěen in Thai) the hero to carry her private message to her daughter. The message says "Should this boy come in the daytime, devour him in the daytime. Should he come in the nighttime, devour him in the nighttime." Rathasena met a rishi en route. The rishi, having learnt of the message, secretly reversed the text, making "devour" become "marry". So the daughter of the ogress married Rathasena.

Pronunciation