Definition

1. Idiom:
   • A life of many hardships and constant changes: This idiom describes a life full of difficulties, turbulence, and instability, where one experiences many ups and downs, struggles, and adversities.

Usage Examples

• Idiom:
  • Cuộc đời của ông ấy thật là ba chìm bảy nổi. (His life has truly been full of ups and downs.)
  • Sau những năm tháng ba chìm bảy nổi, bà ấy cuối cùng cũng tìm được sự ổn định. (After years of a turbulent life, she finally found stability.)

Advanced Usage

• This idiom is often used to summarize a person's difficult life journey or a period of great hardship. It emphasizes resilience in the face of constant change and misfortune.
  • Câu chuyện kể về một cuộc đời ba chìm bảy nổi đầy cảm động. (The story tells of a deeply moving life full of vicissitudes.)

Variants and Related Words

• Long đong, lận đận: These are adjectives/adverbs meaning "to lead a hard, wandering, unstable life." They are often used in similar contexts to describe hardship.
  • Một kiếp người long đong. (A life of hardship and wandering.)
• Thăng trầm: This is a noun meaning "ups and downs," often used in a slightly more formal or literary context to describe the fluctuations of life or history, but without the same intense connotation of suffering as "ba chìm bảy nổi."
  • Những thăng trầm của cuộc đời. (The ups and downs of life.)

Synonyms

• Gian truân, vất vả: Hardship, toil, difficulty.
• Lênh đênh: Drifting, unstable (often used for a life or situation lacking a firm foundation).

Related Phrases

• Nổi chìm: This is a less common, shortened form sometimes used poetically, meaning "to float and sink," metaphorically indicating life's fluctuations.
  • Kiếp nổi chìm. (A life of floating and sinking / a turbulent life.)

Related Idioms

• Cơ hàn: Literally "hunger and cold," meaning a life of poverty and deprivation.
• Lên thác xuống ghềnh: Literally "to go up waterfalls and down rapids," meaning to go through extremely difficult and dangerous situations. This idiom emphasizes perilous obstacles more than constant instability.

1. The ups and downs of life