chắp nhặt
Definition
- Verb:
- To glean: To collect information, ideas, or small amounts of something bit by bit from various sources, often with effort.
- To scrape together: To gather or assemble something (like money, materials, or facts) from whatever is available, especially when resources are scarce or scattered.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Anh ấy chỉ chắp nhặt kiến thức từ vài trang web. (He only gleans knowledge from a few websites.)
- Cô ấy chắp nhặt đủ tiền để mua một chiếc xe cũ. (She scraped together enough money to buy an old car.)
- Bài báo này được viết từ những mẩu tin chắp nhặt. (This article is written from gleaned bits of news.)
Advanced Usage
- The word often carries a nuance of a haphazard, incomplete, or unrefined collection, implying the final result may be patchy or not from a unified source.
- Tác phẩm của ông ấy chẳng qua là chắp nhặt ý tưởng của người khác. (His work is merely a scraping together of others' ideas.)
Variants and Related Words
- Chắp vá (v): To patch together, to mend. This emphasizes piecing things together in a makeshift or temporary way, often physically.
- Chiếc quần được chắp vá bằng nhiều mảnh vải. (The pants were patched together with many pieces of fabric.)
Synonyms
- Glean: To gather gradually and bit by bit.
- Scrape together: To collect with difficulty.
- Patch together: To assemble from disparate parts.
Related Idioms
- While "chắp nhặt" itself is often used directly, it is conceptually related to the idea of a patchwork collection.
- Lời quê chắp nhặt dông dài. (Rustic words, gleaned and long-winded.) – A famous line from poet Nguyễn Du, describing his work as a humble collection of common phrases.
verb
-
To glean, to scrape together
