Definition

1. Noun:

   • Waste, residue, dregs: The solid material that remains after a liquid has been extracted or a substance has been processed, such as from food or drink.
   • Chewed remains: The leftover pulp from something that has been chewed, like betel nut.

2. Adjective:

   • Tasteless and coarse (texture): Describing food, especially meat or sausage, that has a dry, loose, and unpleasant texture, often due to being deprived of moisture or fat.
   • Exhausted, dead tired: Describing a state of extreme physical fatigue.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Đổ bã cà phê vào thùng rác. (Throw the coffee grounds into the trash.)
  • Sau khi nhai trầu, người ta thường nhổ bã ra. (After chewing betel, people usually spit out the quids.)

• Adjective:

  • Giò lụa này ăn bã quá. (This pork sausage tastes too coarse and dry.)
  • Làm việc cả ngày, tôi bã cả người. (Working all day, I am completely exhausted.)

Advanced Usage

• "nói bã bọt mép" (idiomatic verb phrase): to speak until one's mouth is dry; to waste one's breath trying to persuade someone who won't listen.
  • Tôi nói bã bọt mép mà nó chẳng nghe. (I talked until I was blue in the face, but he didn't listen.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bã mía (n): bagasse, the dry pulpy residue left after crushing sugarcane.

  • Bã mía có thể dùng làm nhiên liệu. (Bagasse can be used as fuel.)

• Bã rượu (n): distiller's grains, spent grains, the residue from brewing alcohol.

  • Bã rượu thường được dùng làm thức ăn cho gia súc. (Distiller's grains are often used as cattle feed.)

• Bã bia (n): brewer's spent grain, the residue from beer production.

Synonyms

• Noun: residue, dregs, grounds, pulp, refuse.
• Adjective (texture): coarse, dry, mealy, pasty.
• Adjective (tired): exhausted, fatigued, spent, worn out, dog-tired.

Related Idioms

• Theo voi hít bã mía (proverb): Literally "to follow an elephant and inhale bagasse dust"; to attach oneself to a powerful person in hopes of getting small benefits, often used critically.
  • Hắn chẳng làm gì, chỉ biết theo voi hít bã mía. (He doesn't do anything, he just knows how to follow the powerful and pick up scraps.)

noun

1. Waste, residue, refuse
   • bã mía
     Bagasse, megass
   • bã rượu
     Distiller's grains
   • bã cà phê
     coffee grounds
   • bã trầu
     a chewed betel quid

adj

1. Tasteless and loose (as deprived of nutrient substance)
2. Exhausted, dead tired, dogtired
   • nói bã bọt mép
     to speak in vain, to waste one's breath