Họ Đặng chết đói
Definition
Proper Noun (Idiomatic Phrase): - The Deng family starved to death: This is a Vietnamese idiom originating from a Chinese historical anecdote. It refers to a person who, despite being given immense wealth and privilege, ultimately meets with ruin and destitution. It symbolizes inevitable misfortune or a preordained tragic fate that cannot be avoided, even with extraordinary intervention.
Usage Examples
- Proper Noun (Idiomatic Phrase):
- Anh ta được thừa kế cả một gia tài khổng lồ nhưng cuối cùng vẫn như Họ Đặng chết đói, phá sản hoàn toàn. (He inherited a huge fortune but ended up like the Deng family who starved, bankrupt.)
- Số phận ấy đã định, có cố gắng mấy cũng thành Họ Đặng chết đói mà thôi. (That fate is sealed; no matter how hard one tries, it will still end in destitution like the Deng clan.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is used metaphorically to critique or describe a situation where someone squanders absolute advantage or fails to escape a doomed outcome. It often carries a tone of fatalism or poetic justice.
Cultural and Historical Context
- The idiom comes from the story of Đặng Thông (Deng Tong in Chinese) during the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen adored Deng Tong and, upon hearing a seer predict Deng would die of poverty, granted him a copper mountain with the right to mint his own coins. However, after Emperor Wen died, Emperor Jing ascended to the throne, despised Deng Tong, confiscated all his assets, and Deng Tong indeed died a pauper. The phrase "Họ Đặng chết đói" encapsulates this entire narrative of inescapable destiny.
Synonyms
- A self-fulfilling prophecy of doom: An inevitable negative outcome.
- Inevitable ruin: Unavoidable destruction or poverty.
- Poetic justice: A fitting, often ironic, punishment for one's actions.
Related Idioms
- Số phận long đong: A troubled/destined fate.
- Trời kêu ai nấy dạ: Heaven calls, and one must answer (fatalism).
- Của trời cho, trời lại lấy đi: What heaven gives, heaven takes away.