con chạch
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A small eel-like freshwater fish: "con chạch" refers to a small, slender, and slippery freshwater fish, often found in rice paddies, ponds, and slow-moving streams in Vietnam. It is similar to a loach or a small eel.
- An embankment or dike (archaic/regional usage): In some specific contexts, particularly in certain dialects or historical texts, "con chạch" can refer to a small earthen embankment or dike used to hold back water. This usage is less common in modern standard Vietnamese.
Usage Examples
Noun (Fish):
- Trẻ con thường bắt con chạch ở mương nước. (Children often catch loaches in the water ditches.)
- Canh chua nấu với con chạch là một món ăn dân dã. (Sour soup cooked with loach is a rustic dish.)
Noun (Embankment - less common):
- Nước lũ đã làm vỡ con chạch. (The flood water broke the small dike.)
Advanced Usage
- "Trơn như con chạch": An idiom meaning "as slippery as a loach," used to describe something or someone very slippery, either literally or figuratively (e.g., hard to catch or pin down).
- Tên trộm đó trốn thoát, trơn như con chạch. (That thief escaped, as slippery as an eel.)
Variants and Related Words
- Cá chạch (n): Another common term for the loach fish, often used interchangeably with "con chạch."
- Chạch bùn (n): Mud loach; a specific type of loach.
- Đê (n): Dike, embankment. This is the standard and more common word for an embankment, unlike the secondary meaning of "con chạch."
Synonyms
- Cá chạch: Loach (fish).
- Con lươn: Eel (a similar but typically larger fish).
Related Phrases
- Bắt chạch: To catch loaches.
- Buổi chiều, bố tôi thường ra đồng bắt chạch. (In the afternoon, my father often goes to the fields to catch loaches.)
Related Idioms
- "Trơn như chạch": A shortened form of "trơn như con chạch," with the same meaning.
- Cậu ấy nói chuyện quanh co, trơn như chạch. (He talks evasively, as slippery as an eel.)
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