Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Easily crumbling, easily cracking: Describes a material, especially fabric, wood, or other dry, brittle substances, that is so worn out or decayed that it falls apart or cracks with minimal force.
   • Friable, rotten: Can describe something that has deteriorated to a state of extreme fragility.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Chiếc áo cũ quá, bở bùng bục. (The jacket was too old, it cracked/rotted easily.)
  • Gỗ này đã mục, bùng bục cả rồi. (This wood is rotten, it's completely crumbly.)
  • Giấy cũ để lâu ngày trở nên bùng bục. (Old paper left for a long time becomes brittle and crumbly.)

Advanced Usage

• "bở bùng bục": A common collocation emphasizing a state of being both soft/rotten and easily crumbling. It intensifies the meaning of decay.
  • Tường nhà cũ bở bùng bục, chỉ cần chạm nhẹ cũng sụt. (The wall of the old house is rotten and crumbly; even a light touch makes it crumble.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bục (verb): To crack, to split, to give way. "Bùng bục" is considered an intensified reduplicative form of "bục."
• Mục (adj/verb): Rotten, decayed (often for wood). "Mục nát" means rotten and crumbling.
• Bở (adj): Soft, mushy, friable (often for soil or rotten material). Often paired with "bùng bục."

Synonyms

• Dễ vỡ vụn: Easily breaks into pieces.
• Dễ nứt: Easily cracks.
• Mục nát: Rotten and decayed (stronger, often for organic matter).

Notes on Meaning

• Primary Meaning: The core meaning is physical fragility due to age, dryness, or decay, leading to easy crumbling or cracking. It is not typically used for something that is simply "fragile" like glass, but for materials that have deteriorated.
• Figurative Use: Rarely used figuratively. It almost always describes a tangible, physical state of disrepair.

adj

1. Easily crambling, easily cracking
   • chiếc áo cũ quá, bở bùng bục
     the jacket was too old,it cracked easily