Definition

1. Verb:
   • To perform badly on (a musical instrument, especially a stringed one like a violin): To play an instrument in a slow, grating, and unskilled manner, producing an unpleasant, drawn-out sound.
   • To drag on, to be protracted: To progress very slowly and tediously, seeming to last longer than necessary or desired.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Đứa trẻ mới tập chơi nên cò cưa cây đàn violin cả buổi. (The child is just learning, so they've been sawing away badly on the violin all afternoon.)
  • Cuộc họp cò cưa mãi mà không đi đến quyết định nào. (The meeting dragged on and on without reaching any decision.)
  • Anh ấy cò cưa bản nhạc đó đến phát chán. (He dragged out that piece of music until it became tiresome.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is highly onomatopoeic, imitating the repetitive, grating sound of a poorly played violin or a handsaw. This sensory connection is central to its meaning.
• It often carries a negative connotation of irritation, boredom, or incompetence due to the prolonged, unpleasant nature of the action.
• "cò cưa cò kẽ": An extended, rhyming form that emphasizes the tedious, drawn-out nature of an action even more strongly.
  • Công việc ấy cò cưa cò kẽ cả tháng trời. (That job dragged on tediously for a whole month.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kéo cưa (Verb): Literally "to pull a saw"; used for the action of sawing wood. It shares the repetitive back-and-forth motion implied in "cò cưa" but is more literal.
• Lê thê (Adjective): Protracted, long-drawn-out. Similar in describing something tediously long but without the auditory or performance aspect.

Synonyms

• Kéo dài (Verb): To prolong, to lengthen. (More neutral than "cò cưa").
• Lê thê (Adjective/Adverb): Dragging on, interminably long.
• Ỳ ạch (Adjective/Adverb): Progressing slowly and with great difficulty.

Related Idioms

• Cò cưa như mài tre: An idiom comparing the dragging action to "sharpening bamboo," emphasizing extreme slowness and ineffectiveness.
  • Dự án này tiến độ cò cưa như mài tre. (This project's progress is as slow as sharpening bamboo / is dragging on interminably.)

1. To perform badly on (a violin...)
2. To drag on
   • bàn cò cưa nửa ngày mới xong
     the discussions dragged on for half a day