Definition

1. Noun:

   • Toad: An amphibian similar to a frog, typically with dry, warty skin, living on land. This is the primary zoological meaning.

2. Adverb (colloquial, emphatic):

   • Not at all; never; not a bit: Used to express a strong, often rude or defiant, negation. It intensifies the negative meaning of a verb or adjective.
   • Not have; there is none: Used to deny the existence of something completely.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Con cóc là động vật lưỡng cư. (The toad is an amphibian.)
  • Trẻ con thường sợ con cóc. (Children are often afraid of toads.)

• Adverb:

  • Tớ cóc sợ! (I'm not afraid at all!)
  • Nó cóc có tiền. (He has no money whatsoever.)
  • Ở đây cóc có gì ăn. (There is absolutely nothing to eat here.)
  • Cóc ai thương nó cả. (Not a single person pities him.)

Advanced Usage

• "cóc cần": To not care in the slightest; to not give a straw.

  • Anh ta mắng tôi nhưng tôi cóc cần. (He scolded me but I don't care a bit.)

• "cóc sợ": To be not afraid at all; defiant.

  • Dọa hay không dọa, tôi cóc sợ. (Threat or no threat, I'm never afraid.)

• "cóc ... gì": A common structure for strong negation, meaning "not ... anything at all".

  • Sợ cóc gì! (Be afraid of nothing!)
  • Có cóc gì đâu mà lo. (There's absolutely nothing to worry about.)

Variants and Related Words

• Con cóc (n): The toad (the animal). This is the standard noun form.
• Cóc nhái (n, colloquial): A general term for frogs and toads; sometimes used figuratively to mean insignificant things or people.

Synonyms

• Không (adv): No, not. (Less emphatic than ).
• Chẳng (adv, literary/colloquial): Not. (Often used in negative statements, can be slightly less harsh than ).
• Đếch (adv, vulgar): A vulgar synonym with the same emphatic negative meaning as .

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Cóc cần": See "Advanced Usage".
• "Cóc sợ": See "Advanced Usage".
• "Cóc vái trời": (Literally: "A toad bowing to the sky"). An idiom meaning someone of low status trying to appeal to a much higher authority, often futilely; to be too lowly to reach the high and mighty.
• "Cóc chết ba năm quay đầu về núi": (Literally: "A toad dies for three years but still turns its head towards the mountain"). An idiom describing stubbornness or an unchangeable nature.

noun

1. Toad
   • con cóc

adv

1. Never, not at all
   • doa. thì doa., cóc sợ
     threat or no threat, we are never afraid
   • cóc ai ưa
     never a one likes him
   • cóc cần
     not to care a straw
   • từ đệm
     Not at all
   • sợ cóc gì
     not to be afraid at all
   • có thì giờ cóc đâu
     no time at all