Definition

Noun: 1. Sardine: A small, oily, silver-colored saltwater fish with a flattened body and many bones, often used for making fish sauce or preserved in cans. - The market sells fresh cá mòi for making fish sauce. 2. (In the idiom "chật như cá mòi trong hộp"): Used to describe an extremely crowded or packed situation, analogous to "packed like sardines." - The bus was so full, it was like cá mòi in a can.

Usage Examples

• As a noun (the fish):
  • Món mắm cá mòi này rất thơm. (This sardine fish sauce is very fragrant.)
  • Ngư dân đánh bắt được một mẻ cá mòi lớn. (The fishermen caught a large haul of sardines.)
• In the common idiom:
  • Phòng chờ sân bay chật như cá mòi. (The airport waiting room is packed like sardines.)

Advanced Usage

• The word cá mòi is almost exclusively used in its literal sense for the fish or within its specific idiomatic expression. It does not have other extended metaphorical uses in standard Vietnamese.

Variants and Related Words

• Mắm cá mòi (n): Sardine fish sauce.
  • Bà ngoại tôi làm mắm cá mòi rất ngon. (My grandmother makes very delicious sardine fish sauce.)
• Cá mòi hộp (n): Canned sardines.
  • Bữa sáng nhanh với cá mòi hộp và bánh mì. (A quick breakfast with canned sardines and bread.)

Synonyms

• Cá trích (n): Herring (a different but similar small, oily fish).
  • Cá mòi và cá trích đều là cá nhỏ, nhiều dầu. (Sardines and herring are both small, oily fish.)

Related Idioms

• Chật như cá mòi (trong hộp): Packed like sardines (in a can/box). This is the primary and almost only idiom featuring this word.
  • Xe buýt giờ cao điểm chật như cá mòi. (The bus during rush hour is packed like sardines.)

noun

1. sardine
   • chật như cá mòi trong hộp
     packed like sardines in a box