Trầm ngư lạc nhạn
Definition
- Idiom (Thành ngữ):
- "Fish sink, geese fall": A classical Vietnamese idiom describing a woman of such extraordinary and captivating beauty that it causes fish to forget to swim and sink, and geese to become entranced and fall from the sky. It signifies a level of beauty that is utterly mesmerizing and enchanting to all beings.
Usage Examples
- Idiom:
- Vẻ đẹp của nàng khiến người ta liên tưởng đến điển tích "trầm ngư lạc nhạn". (Her beauty makes people think of the idiom "fish sink, geese fall".)
- Trong văn chương cổ, sắc đẹp nghiêng nước nghiêng thành thường được ví von là "trầm ngư lạc nhạn". (In classical literature, devastating beauty is often metaphorically described as "fish sink, geese fall".)
Advanced Usage
- This idiom is primarily used in literary, poetic, or highly formal descriptive contexts. It is a classical allusion and is not used in everyday conversation.
- It functions as a predicate or a subject complement to describe a person's beauty.
- Nhan sắc ấy đúng là trầm ngư lạc nhạn. (That beauty is truly "fish sink, geese fall".)
Variants and Related Words
- Trầm ngư (idiomatic component): Literally "sinking fish".
- Lạc nhạn (idiomatic component): Literally "falling geese/wild swans".
- Nghiêng nước nghiêng thành (idiom): "Toppling cities and states"; another idiom for devastating, nation-toppling beauty.
Synonyms
- Breathtakingly beautiful: Extremely beautiful.
- Ravishing: Delightfully beautiful and attractive.
- Enchanting: Capturing delightful attention, as if by magic.
Related Idioms and Allusions
- The idiom originates from a reversal of a story in the Chinese classic Zhuangzi, where a beauty is so feared by fish and birds that they flee (fish dive deep, birds fly high). Later writers inverted the meaning to describe beauty that attracts rather than frightens.
- "Cá lặn nhạn sa": A more modern, shortened Vietnamese variant with the same meaning ("fish dive, geese/wild swans fall").