Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To have a taste of; to experience for the first time: To become acquainted with the nature, quality, or sensation of something, often implying a new, direct, and sometimes surprising personal encounter.
   • To take a liking to; to develop a taste for: To begin to appreciate or enjoy something after having tried it.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Đứa trẻ lần đầu biết mùi socola. (The child tasted chocolate for the first time.)
  • Sau chuyến đi, anh ấy đã biết mùi phiêu lưu. (After the trip, he got a taste of adventure.)
  • Cô ấy biết mùi rượu vang ngon và giờ rất thích. (She developed a taste for good wine and now likes it very much.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a connotation of gaining practical, sometimes harsh, life experience, moving from ignorance to knowledge through direct encounter.
• "biết mùi đời": to get a taste of life; to begin to understand the ways of the world, often through difficult or enlightening experiences.
  • Sau khi tự lập, nó mới thực sự biết mùi đời. (After becoming independent, he truly got a taste of life.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nếm mùi (v): to taste; to experience (often something unpleasant or challenging).
  • Anh ta đã nếm mùi thất bại. (He has tasted failure.)

Synonyms

• Experience: to undergo or feel an event or emotion.
• Sample: to try something to experience its quality.
• Get a taste of: to have a brief experience of something.

Related Idioms

• Biết mùi đòn: to get a taste of punishment/beating; to experience physical discipline or defeat.
  • Nó hư quá, cần phải cho biết mùi đòn. (He's too naughty; he needs to be taught a lesson.)
• Biết mùi tù: to get a taste of prison; to experience incarceration.
  • Kẻ tội phạm cuối cùng cũng biết mùi tù. (The criminal finally got a taste of prison.)

1. Take a liking to; have a taste of, have an experience of
   • Biết mùi đời
     To take a taste (an experience) of life