ba ba ấp bóng
doing something that is futile and pointless
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Where will you be? Anywhere Hà Nội & the NorthHuế / Đà Nẵng & the CenterSài Gòn & the SouthOnline slang Bắc ↔ Nam words
ba bảy hai mươi mốt
Three sevens are twenty-one — saying it both ways at once; arithmetic for the noncommittal.
ba bị chín quai mười hai con mắt
Ba Bị of the nine straps and twelve eyes — the sack-carrying bogeyman parents summon at bedtime.
ba chớp ba nhảng
Careless and inattentive; doing things in a sloppy, half-focused way that invites mistakes.
ba cái
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see ba, cái.
ba hoa chích choè
Chattering like a magpie-robin — rattling on about nothing in particular.
ba hoa thiên địa
Blathering heaven-and-earth — bragging on about everything under the sky.
ba la bô lô
Babbling bô-lô-ba-la — rattling on in cheerful, meaningless streams.
ba mươi chưa phải là Tết
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see ba mươi, chưa, phải, là, Tết.
ba mươi tuổi, sáu mươi quen
Thirty years old, sixty acquaintances deep — each year of age compounds the ledger of faces.
ba que xỏ lá
cheating and caddish; wicked and malicious; deceitful; roguish
ba thước đất
Three feet of earth — the grave; the one holding everyone is measured for.
ba vua bẩy chúa
Choose the person before consigning the goods — custody follows character.
ba vuông bảy tròn
Three squares and seven rounds — shapely in every regard; complete and without blemish.
ba vuông bẩy tròn
First crime, second debt — the two great millstones of a small life.
ba vạn sáu nghìn ngày là mấy
Thirty-six thousand days — and that's the whole of it; a life counted out loud.
ba vợ bẩy nàng hầu
Three wives and seven concubines — the old polygamous estate at full head-count.
ba đầu sáu tay
Three heads and six arms — powers several men's worth in one body.
ban ngày ban mặt
In broad daylight — openly, where everyone can see; usually said in indignation.
bang môn lộng phủ
Swinging an axe at Ban's own door — flaunting a skill before its master.
bao giờ cây chuối có cành, cho sung có nụ, cho hành có hoa. Bao giờ chạch đẻ ngọn đa, sáo đẻ dưới nước thì ta lấy mình. Bao giờ cây cải làm đình, gỗ lim thái ghém thì mình lấy ta
When the banana grows branches and the fig buds, when the loach spawns atop the banyan — then I'll marry you — refusal by botanical impossibility.
bao giờ hến mới mở mồm
When will the mussel open its mouth — the silent one's speech, awaited like a tide.
bao giờ hết cỏ Tháp Mười
When the grass of Tháp Mười runs out — the resistance oath: only then will the South stop fighting — defiance with a botanical deadline.
bao gồm cả ba bữa ăn
to include all three meals; full board
Bao Tự cười
A smile as rare and costly as Baosi's — an allusion to a beauty who never smiles, or to pleasure bought at ruinous price.
bia mậu dịch kịch ti vi
State-shop beer and television drama — the subsidy era's twin luxuries; the good life, ration-book edition.
binh hùng tướng mạnh
Mighty troops and strong generals — a force at the height of its strength.
biết chết liền
I don't know; no idea
biết mặt không biết tên
Known by face, not by name — acquaintance at half resolution.
biết một mà chẳng biết mười
Knowing one without knowing ten — a corner of the picture mistaken for the whole.
biết người biết của
To know people and know goods — to judge both people and things at their true worth.
biết người biết mặt, chẳng biết lòng
You know the person and the face, never the heart — acquaintance stops at the skin.
biết người biết ta
Know the other, know yourself — sizing both sides truly and acting with due measure.
biết ngứa đâu mà gãi
Where's the itch I'm meant to scratch? — wanting to help with no idea where help is wanted.
biết rồi, khổ lắm, nói mãi
I get it! Quit your nagging!
biết thì thưa thốt, không biết thì dựa cột mà nghe
if you know about something, do talk about it, if you don't, lean back on a pillar and listen
biết thế
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see biết, thế.
biết đâu ma ăn cỗ
Who's to know which ghost ate the offerings — with no witness, the culprit can never be named.
bn
initialism of bao nhiêu
bt
Texting shortcut with two readings: “biết” (to know) or “bình thường” (normal, meh) — context decides.
bu lông và đai ốc
nuts and bolts
buôn bán sổi
Swarming like ants — numbers past counting.
buôn có bạn, bán có phường
Trade with partners, sell with a guild — commerce is a company sport.
buôn dưa lê
to shoot the breeze; to chew the fat; to gossip
buôn dầm cầm chèo
Paddle in one hand, oar in the other — hands never once at rest.
buôn gánh bán bưng
To trade from a shoulder-pole and sell from a tray — to scrape a living as a street vendor.
buôn gặp chầu, câu gặp chỗ
Trade meets its market, fishing meets its hole — the lucky moment when the work and the chance align.
buôn hương bán phấn
To trade in scent and sell powder — to live by prostitution.
buôn mây bán gió
Trading in clouds and selling wind — commerce in the perfectly intangible.
buôn phấn bán son
To trade in powder and sell rouge — to live by prostitution.
buôn quan tám bán quan tư
Buy at eight quan, sell at four — commerce conducted at half price; the losing trade.
buôn Sở bán Tần
Trading in Sở, selling in Tần — commerce shuttling between rival kingdoms; the far-flung dealer.
buôn thúng bán bưng
Basket trade and tray selling — petty street vending to get by.
buồn ngủ gặp chiếu manh
Drowsy, and a spare mat appears — the need meeting its remedy by pure luck.
buộc chỉ chân voi
Tying the elephant with sewing thread — restraint amusingly beneath its object.
buộc chỉ cổ tay
A thread tied at the wrist — the old charm binding a promise, or a soul, in place.
bà con xa, chẳng bằng xóm diềng gần
Distant kin are no match for close neighbors — the ones nearby are the ones who come running.
bà già bốc mắm
An old woman scooping fish paste with her fingers — a sloppy worker who makes a mess of whatever she touches.
bà già chơi trống bỏi
An old woman playing a child's paper drum — age at play far beneath its years.
bà già gặp kẻ cắp
The old lady meets the pickpocket — the sly finally sampling slyness from the receiving end.