Definition

1. Verb:
   • To engage in nocturnal activities of a disreputable nature, often for survival or illicit gain: The core meaning refers to making a living through activities conducted under the cover of night, typically involving theft or prostitution. It carries a strong connotation of social marginalization and illegality.
   • To be a night-prowler; to walk the streets (specifically for prostitution): This usage often specifically denotes prostitution, describing the act of soliciting on the streets at night.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Hắn là một tên chuyên ăn sương. (He is a professional night-prowler/thief.)
  • Khu phố ấy về đêm thường có nhiều người ăn sương. (That neighborhood at night often has many street-walkers/night-birds.)
  • Cảnh sát bắt quả tang một nhóm thanh niên đang ăn sương. (The police caught a group of young men red-handed while they were stealing/engaged in nocturnal crime.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is inherently euphemistic and slangy, used to indirectly refer to socially condemned or illegal activities. Its usage often implies a judgmental or scornful tone from the speaker.
• It can function as a noun when referring to a person who engages in such activities, e.g., "" (a night-prowler), "" (a street-walker).

Variants and Related Words

• Gái ăn sương (noun phrase): A street-walker; a prostitute who solicits clients on the street.
  • Câu chuyện xoay quanh cuộc đời của một cô gái ăn sương. (The story revolves around the life of a street-walker.)
• Nghề ăn sương (noun phrase): The trade/occupation of a night-bird; referring to prostitution or nocturnal theft.
  • Hắn sa vào cái nghề ăn sương từ rất trẻ. (He fell into the life of a night-bird from a very young age.)

Synonyms

• Đi ăn đêm: To go out at night (for illicit purposes). Less specific but similar in context.
• Làm đĩ / hành nghề mại dâm: To be a prostitute / to work in prostitution. More direct and less euphemistic than .
• Ăn trộm / ăn cắp: To steal. More general terms for theft, not specifically nocturnal.

Related Phrases / Idioms

• Ăn sương, nằm sương: (Literally: to eat the dew, to sleep in the dew). An extended idiom emphasizing a harsh, unstable life spent outdoors, often associated with homelessness or the aforementioned nocturnal activities.
  • Cuộc đời lang thang, ăn sương nằm sương. (A wandering life, exposed to the elements and engaged in a precarious nocturnal existence.)

verb

1. To be a night-bird, to walk the streets
   • gái ăn sương
     street-walker, street-girl
   • nghề ăn sương
     a night-bird's occupation