Definition

1. Verb:
   • To die, to perish (often in a sudden, violent, or untimely manner): "bỏ mạng" means to lose one's life, typically implying an abrupt, unfortunate, or violent death. It often carries a dismissive or contemptuous nuance.
   • To pop off (slang, derogatory): In informal, often disrespectful slang, it can mean to die, used to show a lack of sympathy or regard for the deceased.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Tên cướp đã bỏ mạng trong cuộc đấu súng với cảnh sát. (The robber popped off in a shootout with the police.)
  • Nhiều người đã bỏ mạng vì thiên tai năm đó. (Many people perished in the natural disaster that year.)
  • Hắn lái xe ẩu và cuối cùng cũng bỏ mạng. (He drove recklessly and finally kicked the bucket.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is informal and often used in colloquial speech or narratives. It is generally not appropriate for formal contexts or when expressing condolences.
• It can be used figuratively to mean a complete failure or "death" of something, like a plan or project, though this is less common.
  • Dự án kinh doanh đó đã bỏ mạng chỉ sau ba tháng. (That business project died a death after just three months.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bỏ xác (verb): A very similar synonym, also meaning to die and leave one's body behind, often in a violent or undignified context. It is equally informal and dismissive.
• Chết (verb): The neutral, standard word for "to die."
• Từ trần, qua đời (verb): Polite and formal terms for "to pass away."

Synonyms

• Perish: To die, especially in a tragic or violent way.
• Kick the bucket (idiomatic, slang): To die (informal and often humorous or irreverent).
• Meet one's end: To die (a slightly more formal idiom).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Bỏ mạng vì...: To die because of... / To perish due to...
  • Anh ta bỏ mạng vì một vết thương nhỏ không được chữa trị. (He died because of a small, untreated wound.)

Related Idioms

• Bỏ mạng như ngả rạ: To die in great numbers (like falling rice stalks). This idiom emphasizes dying easily and in large quantities.
  • Trong trận chiến, binh lính bỏ mạng như ngả rạ. (In the battle, soldiers died like flies.)
• Chết như rạ: A similar idiom to the above, meaning "to die in droves."

1. To pop off (hàm ý khinh)