Tiếng Việt · Word Attested

cà khịa

[kaː˨˩ xiə˧˨ʔ]

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

(verb) to quarrel; pick fights; incite conflict

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

cãi lộn; gây ra xung đột

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Miền Nam · Southern Vietnam • Wiktionary labels this sense “Southern”

Sources & notes

Imported from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); community review pending. source ↗

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

(verb) to troll; tease

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

trêu chọc; làm cho ai đó giận dữ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Sense 3

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To needle, jab, or playfully troll someone — picking tiny verbal fights for fun.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

trêu chọc, đùa giỡn với ai đó

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: From Southern colloquial khịa — to pick at.

How to use it

✓ Use it when

Describing friendly (or not-so-friendly) provocation, especially online.

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora Origin Mạng xã hội · Vietnamese internet culture

Examples

Fanpage hai hãng cà khịa nhau suốt tuần, dân mạng hóng không kịp.The two brands’ pages needled each other all week; the internet could barely keep up.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Curated editorially (owner-requested humorous-slang research, July 2026). Exploded as a meme word around 2019. Era: ~2019 – present.

Common questions

What does “cà khịa” mean?

(verb) to quarrel; pick fights; incite conflict

Is “cà khịa” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.