Learn some common Vietnamese slang
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What is Vietnamese slang like? |
| Nguyet: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At VietnamesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben Lee went shopping for books with his college friend, Nguyet Ngo. Ben asks, |
| "Will you buy it?" |
| Ben Lee: Bạn sẽ mua nó chứ? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Bạn sẽ mua nó chứ? |
| Nguyệt Ngô: Ừ thì, nó cũng hạt dẻ mà... |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Bạn sẽ mua nó chứ? |
| Michael: "Will you buy it?" |
| Nguyệt Ngô: Ừ thì, nó cũng hạt dẻ mà... |
| Michael: "Well, it's cheap..." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Slang is an aspect of language that isn't usually taught in the classroom, but it can be important for becoming proficient. These are words and expressions, used by a group of people to better convey feelings and implied concepts. It is an aspect of the colloquial language, and, for this reason, it changes really quickly or differs from one group to the other. In Vietnamese, "slang" is |
| Nguyet: Tiếng lóng |
| Michael: In this lesson, we'll talk about some of the most common Vietnamese slang words and expressions. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "Will you buy it?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nguyet: Bạn sẽ mua nó chứ? |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Nguyet Ngo says, "Well, it's cheap…?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nguyet: Ừ thì, nó cũng hạt dẻ mà… |
| Michael: The slang word in this sentence is |
| Nguyet: hạt dẻ |
| Michael: which literally means "chestnut." This expression is used when you want to describe something as very cheap. The meaning has actually nothing to do with the popular seasonal snack, but it’s a pun based on the word "chestnut," or |
| Nguyet: hạt dẻ. |
| Michael: In Vietnamese, the second word in this phraseconstellation, |
| Nguyet: dẻ |
| Michael: and the word |
| Nguyet: rẻ |
| Michael: meaning "cheap," are homophones. So, the pun is based on these two words sounding very similar. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: So far, you've learned that slang is an important aspect of colloquial language. It is often limited to small groups of people and can change quickly or become obsolete. Now, let's look at some more examples of slang expressions that Vietnamese people use. The first is |
| Nguyet: keo [SLOW] keo |
| Michael: This is a slang word that’s used in everyday language. It literally means "glue," but, as a slang word, it is used to describe a person who is "stingy." |
| Nguyet: Cô ấy không bao giờ cho tiền boa. Cô ấy rất keo kiệt. |
| Michael: "She never gives a tip. She is very stingy." Next, we have the phrase |
| Nguyet: nồi cơm điện [SLOW] nồi cơm điện |
| Michael: This is the Vietnamese phrase for "rice cooker," but as a slang expression, it means "helmet." In Vietnam, people refer to motorbike helmets as rice cookers as they can look bulky on the head. We all know that Vietnam has one of the highest number of motorbike owners in the world, and it’s not unusual to hear someone say, |
| Nguyet: Bạn lại đội nồi cơm điện đó à? |
| Michael: "Are you wearing that bulky helmet again?" Now, what do you call a man who treats his woman well? In Vietnamese, such a man is referred to as a |
| Nguyet: Soái Ca [SLOW] Soái Ca |
| Michael: This Chinese-derived word means "handsome man." It’s meaning as a slang word doesn’t go far from its original meaning. In Vietnam, it is used as a slang expression to say "ideal man." A guy may not be physically attractive, but if he’s a gentleman, he can be referred to as |
| Nguyet: Soái Ca |
| Michael: When you see a guy who opens the door for an elderly person or who pulls the chair for his girlfriend, you can say, |
| Nguyet: Chàng trai đó là soái ca của tôi. |
| Michael: "That guy is my ideal man." Speaking of attractive, in Vietnamese, a woman who is very pretty is referred to as |
| Nguyet: ngon [SLOW] ngon |
| Michael: You may have learned that this word means "tasty," and that is correct. As a slang expression, however, it means "very physically attractive" or "hot." |
| Nguyet: Anh ta không thể rời mắt khỏi cô bạn gái ngon lành của mình. |
| Michael: "He couldn’t take his eyes off his hot girlfriend." |
| Expansion |
| Michael: We can’t talk about slang words and expressions without talking about Internet and SMS slang. In Vietnamese, there are more than a couple of Internet slang expressions you need to be familiar with. One of them is the word, |
| Nguyet: bùn [SLOW] bùn |
| Michael: an alternative form of the word, |
| Nguyet: buồn |
| Michael: which means "sad." This expression is only used in text messages or Internet chat and is never used in normal conversations. Another one is the word, |
| Nguyet: sặc [SLOW] sặc |
| Michael: This word literally means "choke," but as an Internet slang word, it means "Say what?!" There are Internet slang words that also come in the form of acronyms. One such expression is ATSM, which is short for |
| Nguyet: ảo tưởng sức mạnh [SLOW] ảo tưởng sức mạnh |
| Michael: It literally means "Powerful illusion," but, as a slang expression, it’s used to refer to a person who is overly confident. Another one that’s just as popular is the acronym GATO, which stands for |
| Nguyet: ghen ăn tức ở [SLOW] ghen ăn tức ở |
| Michael: This expression means "to burst with envy" or "to be very jealous." As such, it is used to describe a person who is furious with jealousy. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Nguyet: Tạm biệt! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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