Definition

1. Verb:
   • To pocket dishonestly, to embezzle: The primary and most common meaning of "đút túi" is to take money, especially public funds, for oneself in a secretive, corrupt, or dishonest manner. It implies a wrongful appropriation.
   • To bribe, to give a backhander (less common): In some contexts, it can mean to give money secretly to someone, often an official, to gain an unfair advantage, though "đút lót" is more precise for this meaning.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Một số quan chức đã đút túi hàng tỷ đồng tiền cứu trợ. (Some officials pocketed billions of dong in relief money.)
  • Hắn ta tìm cách đút túi số tiền chênh lệch từ hợp đồng. (He found a way to pocket the difference from the contract.)
  • Việc đút túi tiền công quỹ là một tội phạm nghiêm trọng. (Pocketing public funds is a serious crime.)

Advanced Usage

• The term carries a strong negative connotation of corruption, theft, and abuse of position. It is often used in news reports, legal contexts, and discussions about graft.
• It typically involves a breach of trust, where someone entrusted with funds (a public official, accountant, manager) secretly takes them for personal use.

Variants and Related Words

• Đút lót (verb): To bribe. This focuses on the act of giving money to corrupt someone else.
  • Hắn phải đút lót cảnh sát để được thả. (He had to bribe the police to be released.)
• Tham nhũng (noun): Corruption. This is the broader concept.
• Biển thủ (verb): To embezzle, to misappropriate. A more formal synonym.
• Ăn chặn (verb): To take a cut, to skim off. This implies taking a portion of money that passes through one's hands.

Synonyms

• Biển thủ: To embezzle.
• Chiếm đoạt: To appropriate, to seize.
• Vơ vét: To grab, to scoop up (often illicitly).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Đút túi riêng: To put into one's own pocket (emphasizes the personal gain).
  • Anh ta đút túi riêng toàn bộ số tiền lợi nhuận. (He put the entire profit into his own pocket.)

Related Idioms

• While "đút túi" itself is often used in a straightforward manner, it is conceptually related to idioms about corruption:
  • Bòn rút của công: To pilfer public property.
  • Tham ô, tham nhũng: To be corrupt, to engage in corruption.

1. Appropriate, pocket dishonestly (public money)
2. Dense, dull
   • Cậu học sinh này đụt lắm
     This pupil is pretty dense.
3. (địa phương) Take shelter, shelter (from rain...)
   • Kiếm chổ đụt mưa To
     seek shelter from rain