chết cỏng
Definition
- Adjective (Slang, Vulgar):
- Stone dead, completely dead: Used to describe a person or animal that is unquestionably and irreversibly dead, often with a connotation of the body being stiff or lifeless. It emphasizes the finality and absolute nature of death.
- Utterly broken, completely non-functional: Can be applied humorously or hyperbolically to machines or systems that have ceased working entirely and are beyond repair.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Con chuột sau khi ăn bả thì chết cỏng rồi. (The mouse is stone dead after eating the poison.)
- Chiếc điện thoại rơi xuống nước, giờ chết cỏng luôn. (The phone fell in water; now it's completely dead.)
- Nó bị trúng đạn, chết cỏng tại chỗ. (He was shot and dropped dead on the spot.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is informal and carries a blunt, sometimes crude or darkly humorous tone. It is not suitable for formal contexts or polite conversation about human death, especially when expressing sympathy.
Variants and Related Words
Chết tươi (adj): dead on the spot, killed instantly.
- Con vật bị điện giật chết tươi. (The animal was electrocuted dead on the spot.)
Chết ngắc (adj): dead as a doornail, utterly dead.
- Pin hết, cái remote chết ngắc. (The battery died; the remote is dead as a doornail.)
Synonyms
- Stone dead: completely and obviously dead.
- Stiff: dead (often implying rigor mortis).
- Deceased: a formal term for dead.
- Kaput: broken, ruined, non-functional (informal).
Related Idioms
Chết thẳng cẳng: to die with one's legs stretched out (to die suddenly or drop dead).
- Nghe tin đó, bà cụ suýt chết thẳng cẳng. (Hearing that news, the old lady almost dropped dead.)
Chết không kịp ngáp: to die without even having time to gasp (to die instantly).
- Vụ nổ mạnh khiến họ chết không kịp ngáp. (The powerful blast caused them to die instantly.)