Definition

Noun: 1. A type of aquatic beetle (Dytiscidae family): A common name for a predatory diving beetle, especially of the genus Cybister, found in ponds and slow-moving water in Vietnam. 2. (Informal, figurative) A person who is slow, sluggish, or dawdles: Used colloquially to describe someone who moves or acts very slowly, like the beetle's deliberate movement in water.

Usage Examples

• Noun (literal):
  • Trẻ con thường bắt cà niễng ở ao làng. (Children often catch diving beetles in the village pond.)
  • Con cà niễng đang bơi dưới nước. (The water beetle is swimming underwater.)
• Noun (figurative):
  • Đi nhanh lên, đừng có cà niễng thế! (Hurry up, don't be such a slowpoke!)
  • Làm việc kiểu cà niễng thì đến bao giờ mới xong. (Working at a snail's pace like that, when will you ever finish?)

Advanced Usage

• The figurative usage is informal and mildly critical, used to chide someone for being too slow. It is not a severe insult but rather a colloquial reproach.

Variants and Related Words

• Bọ nước: A more general term for "water bug" or "aquatic insect," which can sometimes be used interchangeably with but is less specific.
• Bọ hung: Refers to dung beetles (Scarabaeidae family), a completely different type of beetle. Do not confuse with .

Synonyms

• (Literal): (aquatic beetle), (diving beetle).
• (Figurative): (turtle - implying slowness), (slow as a snail), (dilatory, sluggish).

Related Phrases

• Làm cà niễng: To act/dawdle like a ; to move or work extremely slowly.
  • Nó làm cà niễng cả buổi sáng mà chưa xong việc. (He's been dawdling like a snail all morning and hasn't finished the work.)

noun

1. Cybister