Definition

1. Noun:
   • Servant, house-servant: A person, typically a young person or child, employed to perform domestic duties in a household. This term is now considered archaic and derogatory, reflecting outdated social hierarchies.
   • Menial, menial staff: Refers collectively to domestic workers or servants, often implying a low social status.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong xã hội phong kiến, nhiều gia đình giàu có có đứa ở. (In feudal society, many wealthy families had house-servants.)
  • Ông chủ đối xử rất tệ với đứa ở trong nhà. (The master treated the servant in the house very poorly.)
  • Cụm từ "đứa ăn đứa ở" chỉ toàn bộ người giúp việc trong một gia đình. (The phrase "đứa ăn đứa ở" refers to all the domestic staff in a household.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in historical or literary contexts to describe domestic service in pre-modern Vietnam. Its use in contemporary language is rare and can be offensive, as it objectifies the worker.
• The compound phrase "đứa ăn đứa ở" is a fixed expression used historically to refer collectively to the domestic servants who both ate and lived in their employer's household.

Variants and Related Words

• Đầy tớ (n): Servant. A more common, though still somewhat dated, term for a servant.
• Người giúp việc (n): Domestic helper, housekeeper. The modern, neutral, and respectful term.
• Gia nhân (n): (Archaic) Retainer, domestic servant in a large household.
• Ở đợ (v): To work as a live-in domestic servant.

Synonyms

• Tôi tớ: Servant, subordinate.
• Người hầu: Attendant, servant.

Important Note on Usage

• "Đứa ở" is an archaic and pejorative term. It reduces a person to their menial role and is associated with a master-servant dynamic from a bygone era. It is strongly recommended to use the modern term "người giúp việc" (domestic helper) instead when referring to this occupation in contemporary contexts.

1. (cũ) Servant, house-servant
   • Đứa ăn đứa ở
     The menials, the menial staff