bỏ qua đi
"Let it slide" — advice to drop a grievance; between friends it's mercy, from elders it's a verdict.
Browse all entries 6055
All languages English Tiếng Việt
bỏ thì thương, vương thì tội
Discard it and grieve; keep it and suffer — the dilemma of what can neither stay nor go.
bố láo
A Northern rebuke for cheeky, insolent talk or brazen nonsense — between friends it lands as "you're full of it", from an elder it is a genuine scolding.
bố láo chi khươn
Utter insolent rot — barefaced, uncultured nonsense.
bốc bát họ
To take out a street loan — an informal «họ» rotating-credit payout turned loan-shark product: you collect a lump sum and repay in steep daily installments; a staple of Northern black-credit stories.
bốn chín gặp năm mươi
Forty-nine meets fifty — two of a kind colliding: opponents so evenly matched (and often equally stubborn) that neither can get the upper hand; said with a grin when a quarrel or contest refuses to produce a winner.
bống biển gầy nên một nhà
Sea-drift gathered into one house — strangers washed together until they're family.
bồng em thì khỏi xay lúa, xay lúa thì khỏi bồng em
Minding the baby excuses the rice-milling, and the reverse — one back cannot carry two jobs at once.
bổn cũ soạn lại
the same tired old trick; the same trite trope
bộ phong tróc ảnh
Netting wind and grabbing shadows — chasing what no hand can close on.
bới bèo ra bọ
Rake the duckweed and find the vermin — inspect anything closely and out crawl its faults.
bới đất nhặt cỏ
Scratching soil and picking grass — subsistence at the fingernail level.
bớt bát mát mặt
One bowl fewer, a cooler face — eat a little less and keep your dignity intact.
bớt chút được không
The bargaining ask: "can you take a little off?" — friendly haggling is expected at markets; smiles win discounts, indignation doesn't.
bỡn quá hoá thật
Tease too far and it turns true — the joke that crossed into fact.
bợm già mắc bẫy cò-ke
The old rogue caught in a berry-snare — a lifetime of cunning undone by the simplest trap.
bụng bảo dạ
Belly tells gut — to say something to oneself, keeping the thought private.
bụng đói cật rét
Empty belly, frozen back — want attacking from inside and out.
bụt chùa nhà không thiêng
The Buddha of your own pagoda works no miracles — the familiar is never revered; experts are strangers at home.
bụt nhà không thiêng
familiarity breeds contempt
bụt trên toà gà nào dám mổ mắt
No hen dares peck the Buddha on his altar — station protects; who strikes at the enthroned?
'bacco
tobacco
b flats
Bugs.—Compare F SHARPS.
B Flats
Bugs; which obnoxious insects are characterized by their flatness. B. of B. K. Some mysterious initials applied to himself in his diary by Arthur Orton, "the Tichborne Claimant." Supposed to denote "Baronet of British Kingdom.'* For some time it was a phrase applied popularly to any- one who put on airs.
b-ball
basketball
b-flat
A bedbug.
b-girl
A bargirl.
b. k. s
Military officers in mufti, when out on a spree, and not wishing their profession to be known, speak of their barracks as the B. K. S.
b.n.c
For Brasenose, initials of Brazen Nose College. In spite of the nose over the gate the probability is the real name was Brasinium. It is still famous for its beer.—University.
babble
Confused, unintelligible talk, such as was used at the building the tower of Babel.
babe in arms
A very young or innocent person
babe in the woods
A naive or inexperienced person
babe magnet
A person who attracts many romantic or sexual partners
babes
The lowest order of KNOCK-OUTS (which see), who are prevailed upon not to give opposing biddings at auctions, in consideration of their receiving a small sum (from one shilling to half-a-crown), and a certain quantity of beer. They can, however, even after this agreement, be secured on the other side for a little longer price. There is no honour among thieves—at all events not among auction thieves—nowadays.
babes in the wood
Criminals in the stocks, or pillory.
Babes in the Wood
See CHILDREN. The phrase has been humorously applied to (1) simple trustful folks, never suspicious, and easily gulled; (2) insurrectionary hordes that infested the mountains of Wicklow and the woods of Enniscorthy towards the close of the 18th century; and (3) men in the stocks or in the pillory.
babies in the eyes
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Babies in the Eyes
Love in the expression of the eyes. Love is the little babe Cupid, and hence the conceit, originating from the miniature image of oneself in the pupil of another's eyes.
baby and bathwater
to reject something entirely, including its good parts
baby elephant in the room
a smaller, related issue that needs attention
baby gravy
Semen.
baby juice
Semen.
baby powder
Cocaine.
baby step
A small, initial step in a process or action
baby up
to take care of someone or something very carefully
baby-catcher
An obstetrician.
Babylonian Captivity
The seventy years that the Jews were captives in Babylon. They were made captives by Nebuchadnezzar, and released by Cyrus (536 B.C.).
babylonian numbers
N-ec Babylonios temp- tans numeros (Horace: Odes, Bk. i, xi, 2). Do not pry into futurity by astrological calcula- tions and horoscopes. Do not consult fortune-tellers. The Chaldeans were the most noted of astrologers.
babysitter test
A measure of how well someone can take care of themselves.
Bacchus and Circe
The name is from the Gr. komos, carousal.
bacchus and venus
Or, A Select Collection of near Two Hundred of the most Witty and Diverting Songs and Catches in Love and Gallantry, with Songs in the Canting Dialect, with a DICTIONARY explaining all Burlesque and Canting Terms, 12mo. 1738.
baccy
Tobacco.
bach
A bachelor.
Bachelor of Arts
A student who has taken the university degree below that of Master.
Bachelor of Salamanca
The last novel of Le Sage (published in 1736); the hero is a bachelor of arts, Don Cherubin de la Ronda; he is placed in different situations of life, and associates with all classes of society.
bachelor's buttons
Several flowers are so called. Red batchelor's buttons, the double red campion; yellow, the upright crowfoot; white, the white ranunculus, or white campion. The similitude these flowers have to the jagged cloath buttons anciently worne . . . gave occasion ... to call them Bachelor's Buttons.
bachelor's porch
An old name for the north door of a church. Menservants and poor men used to sit on benches down the north aisle, and maidservants and poor women on the south side. After service the men formed one line and the women another, down which the clergy and gentry passed.
bachelor's wife
A hypothetical ideal or perfect wife. Bachelors' wives and maids' children be well taught. HEYWOOD: Proverbs.
back
To support by means of money, on the turf or otherwise.—See LAY.
back alley
The anus.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.