Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To work as a seasonal servant: Refers to the practice of working as a domestic or agricultural laborer for a specific season, such as during planting or harvest time, typically for a landlord or wealthy family.
   • To serve as a casual, temporary servant: Describes temporary employment in a servile role, bound by a seasonal contract rather than permanent employment.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Ông ấy từng phải ở mùa cho một địa chủ giàu có để kiếm sống. (He once had to work as a seasonal servant for a wealthy landlord to make a living.)
  • Trước đây, nhiều nông dân nghèo ở mùa suốt mùa gặt. (In the past, many poor farmers served as seasonal laborers throughout the harvest season.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is primarily historical and socio-economic, describing a specific type of feudal or pre-modern labor relationship in agricultural societies.
• It implies a temporary, often exploitative, arrangement where the worker receives lodging and pay for the duration of the season.

Variants and Related Words

• Làm mùa: To do seasonal work. This is a close synonym but can be slightly broader, not exclusively implying a live-in servant role.
  • Họ đi làm mùa ở các tỉnh khác. (They go to do seasonal work in other provinces.)
• Ở đợ: To work as a long-term, live-in servant. This implies a longer or more permanent service arrangement than "ở mùa".

Synonyms

• Làm thuê theo mùa: To hire oneself out seasonally.
• Phục vụ theo thời vụ: To serve on a seasonal basis.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Đi ở mùa: To go away to work as a seasonal servant. This phrase emphasizes the movement or departure for such work.
  • Thanh niên trong làng thường đi ở mùa khi vào vụ. (Young men in the village often go to work as seasonal servants when the season starts.)

Related Idioms

1. Earn one's living as a seasonal servant, serve as a causual servant