lai căng
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective (often pejorative):
- Hybridized in a tasteless or excessive way: Describes something, especially cultural elements, that is a crude, awkward, or inappropriate mixture of different, often foreign, styles. It implies a lack of authenticity and a result that is garish, ridiculous, or offensive to traditional sensibilities.
- Uncritically imitative of foreign styles: Characterizes the slavish or thoughtless adoption of foreign (typically Western) cultural forms, seen as leading to a loss of native identity and resulting in something incongruous.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Văn hoá lai căng không giữ được bản sắc dân tộc. (A miscellaneous culture cannot preserve the national identity.)
- Bài hát lai căng đó nghe thật kỳ quặc. (That hybridized song sounds really odd.)
- Kiến trúc của tòa nhà bị chỉ trích là lai căng và lố lăng. (The building's architecture was criticized as being hybridized and garish.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used in a critical or disapproving context to comment on cultural degradation, loss of tradition, or inappropriate fusion.
- It can be applied to various domains: music, fashion, architecture, language, and lifestyle.
Variants and Related Words
- Lai (v, adj): to hybridize; hybrid; mixed-breed. A neutral term for biological or cultural mixing, which forms the root of "lai căng."
- Lai tạo (v): to crossbreed, to hybridize (used in biology and sometimes technology).
Synonyms
- Kitsch (when referring to garish, tasteless mixture).
- Bastardized (in the sense of being corrupted from an original pure form).
- Garish hybrid.
- Tastelessly eclectic.
Related Concepts
- Mất gốc: rootless; having lost one's origins. Often discussed alongside "lai căng."
- Bản sắc văn hóa: cultural identity. "Lai căng" is seen as a threat to this.
- Âu hóa: Westernization. A process that can lead to outcomes labeled as "lai căng."
- (xấu) Miscellaneous
- Văn hoá lai căngA miscellaneous culture