Definition

1. Adjective:
   • In a state of financial hardship or living in straitened circumstances: Describes a situation of being short of money, living frugally out of necessity, or experiencing economic difficulty.
   • Stingy, miserly (in a negative, critical sense): Can imply being excessively tight-fisted or parsimonious, often to the point of being ungenerous.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình họ đang sống trong cảnh bo bíu. (Their family is living in a state of financial hardship.)
  • Anh ta bo bíu đến mức không muốn mua một món quà nhỏ cho con. (He is so stingy that he doesn't want to buy a small gift for his child.)
  • Sau khi mất việc, họ phải bo bíu từng đồng. (After losing his job, they had to scrimp and save every penny.)

Advanced Usage

• "sống bo bíu": to live in poverty/penury, to live a hand-to-mouth existence.
  • Cả đời ông ấy sống bo bíu, không dám tiêu xài gì. (He lived in penury all his life, not daring to spend on anything.)
• "tính bo bíu": a stingy, miserly character.
  • Đừng có tính bo bíu như thế, đôi khi cũng phải biết chia sẻ. (Don't be so stingy; sometimes you need to know how to share.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bíu bo: A variant form with the same meaning as "bo bíu". It is less commonly used.
  • Cuộc sống bíu bo khiến họ luôn lo lắng. (A life of hardship keeps them constantly worried.)
• Bủn xỉn (adj): A stronger synonym for stingy, miserly.
• Túng thiếu (adj): Needy, destitute, lacking the necessities of life. Focuses more on the state of need than the behavioral aspect.

Synonyms

• Keo kiệt: Stingy, miserly.
• Chắt bóp: To scrimp and save, to be frugal (can be neutral or slightly negative).
• Sống chật vật: To live in struggle, to have a hard life.

Related Phrases

• Bo bo giữ của: To cling tightly to one's possessions, to be extremely unwilling to spend.
  • Ông cụ bo bo giữ của, không chịu giúp đỡ ai. (The old man clings tightly to his possessions and refuses to help anyone.)
• Bíu ríu: (Colloquial, Southern Vietnamese) To be in a tight spot, often financially; to be entangled in difficulties.

Related Idioms

• Đồng bạc xắt làm đôi: (Lit. to cut a coin in half) To be extremely frugal or stingy.
  • Bà ấy tiêu tiền kiểu đồng bạc xắt làm đôi. (She spends money as if cutting a coin in half – she's extremely frugal.)
• Vắt cổ chày ra nước: (Lit. to wring water out of a rice pestle) To try to get something from someone who has nothing, emphasizing extreme poverty or stinginess.