Definition

1. Verb:
   • To divine; to tell fortunes; to practice fortune-telling: The primary meaning of "bói" is to attempt to gain knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural or mystical means.
   • To find with great difficulty; to scrounge up (used primarily in negative contexts): In informal speech, "bói" means to search for something that is extremely scarce or unavailable.
   • To bear fruit for the first time (of a tree or plant): In agricultural contexts, "bói" describes a plant producing its first crop of fruit.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to divine):
  • Ông cụ ngồi bói bài cho khách. (The old man sat telling fortunes with cards for customers.)
  • Cô ấy không tin vào việc bói toán. (She does not believe in fortune-telling.)
• Verb (to find with difficulty):
  • Giữa mùa đông này, bói đâu ra hoa sen? (In the middle of winter, where could you possibly find lotus flowers?)
• Verb (to bear first fruit):
  • Cây xoài này năm nay mới bói. (This mango tree is bearing fruit for the first time this year.)

Advanced Usage

• The activity of fortune-telling is often referred to as "bói toán".
  • Bói toán đôi khi chỉ dựa vào suy đoán tâm lý. (Fortune-telling sometimes relies only on psychological guesswork.)
• A person who practices divination is called a "thầy bói" (male) or "cô bói"/"bà bói" (female).
  • Thầy bói nói tôi sẽ gặp may mắn. (The fortune-teller said I would encounter good luck.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bói bài (v): To tell fortunes using cards (cartomancy).
• Bói chỉ tay (v): To read palms (palmistry).
• Bói Kiều (v): A traditional Vietnamese form of divination using random verses from the epic poem .

Synonyms

• To divine: To discover by guesswork or intuition, often with a supernatural connotation.
• To foretell: To predict the future.
• To augur: To portend or serve as an omen.

Related Idioms

• Bói ra ma, quét nhà ra rác: Literally "Fortune-telling conjures ghosts, sweeping the house brings out trash." This proverb criticizes fortune-telling, implying that looking for trouble (by seeking fortunes) will inevitably find it, just as cleaning will always find dust. It warns that unnecessary probing can create problems where none existed.
• Không bói cũng biết: Literally "Even without fortune-telling, one knows." This phrase means something is so obvious it doesn't require any prediction or special insight.

verb

1. to divine; to foretell; to angur
   • thầy bói
     diviner, fortune-teller