Definition

1. Verb:
   • To work as a messenger, to run errands: The phrase "chạy giấy" refers to the job of delivering messages, documents, or performing small tasks, often on foot or by bicycle. It describes a low-level, often informal, messenger or courier role.
   • To handle paperwork, to process documents: In a broader, more modern administrative context, it can imply the act of going to various offices or departments to submit, collect, or process documents and paperwork.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông nội tôi ngày xưa từng chạy giấy cho một tòa soạn báo. (My grandfather used to work as a messenger for a newspaper office.)
  • Công việc của anh ấy chủ yếu là chạy giấy tờ giữa các phòng ban. (His job mainly involves running paperwork between departments.)
  • Thời sinh viên, cô ấy đi chạy giấy để kiếm thêm thu nhập. (During her student years, she worked as a messenger to earn extra income.)

Advanced Usage

• "chạy giấy tờ": This is a common extended form emphasizing the handling of documents and official papers.

  • Anh ta mất cả buổi sáng để chạy giấy tờ tại ủy ban. (He spent the whole morning running paperwork at the committee.)

• Implied meaning of effort and legwork: The phrase often carries a connotation of putting in physical effort, navigating bureaucracy, or performing tedious tasks to get something done.

  • Muốn mở công ty thì phải chạy giấy rất nhiều. (To open a company, you have to run around doing a lot of paperwork.)

Variants and Related Words

• Đi giao hàng / Đi ship (colloquial): To deliver goods (a more modern equivalent, often for food or parcels).
• Nhân viên giao nhận: Delivery staff/courier.
• Chạy việc vặt: To run errands (a more general term).
• Chạy: To run. The core verb "chạy" in this compound implies speed and movement.

Synonyms

• Làm công việc đưa tin: To work as a news/message deliverer.
• Làm việc vặt: To do odd jobs/errands.
• Đi công văn (more formal/official): To go on official dispatch/document runs.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Chạy đi chạy lại: To run back and forth.
  • Tôi phải chạy đi chạy lại giữa sở và quận để hoàn tất thủ tục. (I had to run back and forth between the city department and the district office to complete the procedures.)

Related Idioms

• Chân chạy giấy: Literally "paper-running legs"; refers to someone whose job is to run errands or deliver messages.

  • Hồi mới vào nghề, anh chỉ là một chân chạy giấy. (When he first entered the profession, he was just a messenger boy.)

• Cơm áo gạo tiền: (Rice, clothes, money) - Referring to the basic necessities of life that one must work for. "Chạy giấy" is a type of job one might do to earn this.

  • Vì cơm áo gạo tiền, anh ấy nhận làm đủ thứ, kể cả chạy giấy. (For the basic necessities, he took on all kinds of jobs, including working as a messenger.)

1. (từ cũ) Work as a messenger