Definition

1. Adverb:
   • Babbling, chattering incessantly: Describes the continuous, rapid, and often unintelligible sound of talking, typically used for babies learning to speak or for constant, trivial chatter.
   • In a prattling manner: Refers to speaking in a lively, rapid, and somewhat childish or trivial way.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Em bé mới tập nói cứ bí ba bí bô suốt ngày. (The baby, just learning to speak, keeps babbling all day long.)
  • Mấy đứa trẻ ngồi góc lớp bí ba bí bô với nhau. (The children sat in the corner of the class chattering away with each other.)

Advanced Usage

• This word is primarily onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of rapid, indistinct speech. It is often used in a descriptive, sometimes affectionate or humorous context, especially regarding children.
• It can imply that the speech is continuous, energetic, but not very meaningful or serious to the listener.

Variants and Related Words

• Bí bô (Adverb): A more common shortened form with the same meaning of babbling or prattling.
  • Con chim non bí bô trong tổ. (The baby bird chirps/cheeps in the nest.) (Note: Can be used for animal sounds metaphorically)

Synonyms

• Lảm nhảm (Verb): To jabber, to ramble (often with a slightly more negative connotation of talking nonsense).
• Nói liến thoắng (Verb Phrase): To talk very rapidly.
• Bi bô (Adverb): To babble (very close synonym, often interchangeable).

Related Idioms

• While "bí ba bí bô" itself is idiomatic, it is not typically part of a larger fixed idiom. Its expressive power comes from its reduplicative and onomatopoeic structure.