Definition

1. Noun:
   • Grasshopper, locust: "Chấu" is a shortened, colloquial form of "châu chấu," referring to a grasshopper or locust, an insect of the order Orthoptera.
   • A state of profound sadness: Used in the idiomatic expression "buồn như chấu cắn" to describe a feeling of deep, gloomy, or listless sadness.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Insect):

  • Đồng ruộng có nhiều chấu. (The field has many grasshoppers.)
  • Trẻ con bắt chấu cho gà ăn. (The children catch grasshoppers to feed the chickens.)

• Noun (In Idiom - State of Mind):

  • Cậu ấy ngồi một mình, buồn như chấu cắn. (He sat alone, gloomily sad.)
  • Sau tin đó, cô ấy buồn như chấu cắn cả ngày. (After that news, she was gloomily sad all day.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "chấu" is almost exclusively used in two contexts:
  • As a standalone, informal synonym for "châu chấu" (grasshopper).
  • Fixed within the simile idiom "buồn như chấu cắn."
• The idiom "buồn như chấu cắn" is a vivid comparison, likening a person's deep, quiet, and perhaps slightly restless sadness to the imagined state of a grasshopper being bitten. It implies a sullen, moping, or listless mood.

Variants and Related Words

• Châu chấu (noun): The full, standard term for grasshopper or locust.
• Cào cào (noun): Another common term for grasshopper, often used interchangeably in the North.

Synonyms

• Châu chấu (noun): Grasshopper, locust (direct synonym for the insect meaning).
• Buồn bã, ủ rũ (adj): Sad, gloomy (synonyms for the emotional state described by the idiom).

Related Idioms

• Buồn như chấu cắn (Idiom): To be gloomily sad; to be sullenly depressed.
  • Thất bại trong kỳ thi, nó buồn như chấu cắn. (Having failed the exam, he was gloomily sad.)

noun

1. như châu chấu
   • buồn như chấu cắn
     gloomily sad