Definition

1. Verb:
   • To pick out for hostile criticism, to nitpick: To deliberately and often unfairly search for and point out minor faults or shortcomings in someone, typically with a negative or malicious intent.
   • To dig up dirt, to rake over the past: To uncover and expose old, often private or embarrassing, details about a person's life in order to criticize or shame them.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Một số tờ báo thích bới móc đời tư của người nổi tiếng. (Some newspapers like to pick to pieces the private lives of celebrities.)
  • Đừng bới móc những lỗi nhỏ trong báo cáo của cô ấy. (Don't nitpick the minor errors in her report.)
  • Họ không thảo luận vấn đề mà chỉ bới móc lẫn nhau. (They didn't discuss the issue; they just picked each other to pieces.)

Advanced Usage

• The action of bới móc implies a persistent, digging, and often unkind scrutiny. It is stronger and more negative than simple criticism.
• It is commonly used in contexts of journalism, gossip, personal conflicts, and online commentary where private matters are exposed.

Variants and Related Words

• Bới lông tìm vết (idiomatic verb phrase): Literally "to part the fur to find a scar," meaning to go out of one's way to find fault, to nitpick obsessively.
  • Anh ta luôn bới lông tìm vết với đồng nghiệp. (He always goes out of his way to find fault with his colleagues.)

Synonyms

• To nitpick: To criticize minor details.
• To pick apart/holes in something: To criticize something by pointing out flaws.
• To dig up dirt: To discover and reveal damaging information.
• To rake over the coals/ashes: To revive and discuss past mistakes or embarrassments.

Related Idioms

• Bới móc chuyện cũ: To dig up old stories/the past.
  • Cô ấy cứ bới móc chuyện cũ mãi. (She keeps digging up old stories.)
• Bới móc lỗi lầm: To pick at/fish for mistakes.
  • Việc bới móc lỗi lầm không giúp ích gì cho tinh thần đồng đội. (Picking at mistakes does nothing for team spirit.)

verb

1. To pick out for hostile criticism, to pick to pieces
   • bới móc đời tư của người khác
     to pick to pieces shortcomings in others' private life