Definition

1. Noun Phrase:
   • The swift flying of swallows: A descriptive phrase depicting the swift, back-and-forth flight of swallows, likened to the movement of a shuttle on a loom.
   • A metaphor for the rapid passage of time: A poetic idiom used to express how quickly time passes, often specifically referring to the fleeting nature of spring, as swallows are migratory birds associated with this season.

Usage Examples

• Noun Phrase:
  • Trên bầu trời mùa xuân, từng đàn con én đưa thoi. (In the spring sky, flocks of swallows fly swiftly like shuttles.)
  • Thời gian trôi qua tựa con én đưa thoi. (Time passes swiftly like the flight of a swallow.)

Advanced Usage

• This phrase is almost exclusively used in literary, poetic, or reflective contexts to create vivid imagery. It is a fixed idiom and is not used in literal, everyday descriptions of birds.

Variants and Related Words

• Én (n): swallow (the bird).
• Thoi (n): shuttle (a tool in weaving).

Synonyms

• Time flies: A common English idiom expressing the same core idea of time passing quickly.
• Fleeting time: A poetic phrase describing transient time.

Related Idioms

• Thời gian thấm thoắt thoi đưa: Time slips away swiftly like a shuttle. This is a direct, proverbial expansion of the same metaphor.
• Xuân đi xuân lại: Spring goes and spring returns. This related phrase highlights cyclical time, whereas "con én đưa thoi" emphasizes speed and linear passage.