Definition

1. Verb:
   • To use flowery or verbose language; to speak in a roundabout, overly elaborate manner: The primary meaning refers to the act of using unnecessarily complex, lengthy, or ornate phrasing, often to impress, obscure meaning, or prolong speech.
   • To drag out (a conversation, topic): It can imply prolonging a discussion or topic with excessive or irrelevant words.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ta cứ câu kéo mãi mà không đi vào vấn đề chính. (He keeps using such flowery language and never gets to the main point.)
  • Đừng câu kéo nữa, hãy nói ngắn gọn và rõ ràng đi. (Stop being so verbose; please speak concisely and clearly.)
  • Bài diễn văn đó câu kéo quá, nghe rất mệt. (That speech was too full of verbiage; it was exhausting to listen to.)

Advanced Usage

• "câu kéo thời gian": to drag out / kill time (with words).
  • Ông ấy câu kéo thời gian bằng những câu chuyện dài dòng. (He killed time by telling long-winded stories.)
• Used critically to describe bureaucratic, academic, or political language perceived as unnecessarily complex.
  • Ngôn ngữ trong văn bản hành chính đôi khi câu kéo khó hiểu. (The language in administrative documents is sometimes verbose and hard to understand.)

Variants and Related Words

• Câu cú (n): Phrasing, diction. Often used together with "câu kéo" (như câu cú câu kéo) to emphasize ornate or affected language.
• Dài dòng (adj): Long-winded, verbose.
• Hoa mỹ (adj): Flowery, ornate (often describing language).

Synonyms

• Làm dài dòng: to make something long-winded.
• Văn hoa: flowery (language).
• Khoa trương: to be pompous, bombastic.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Kéo dài (câu chuyện, thời gian): to prolong (a story, time). This shares the concept of "kéo" (to pull/drag) from "câu kéo".
  • Anh ấy có tài kéo dài một câu chuyện đơn giản thành một bài giảng. (He has a talent for prolonging a simple story into a lecture.)

Related Idioms

• Nói vòng vo tam quốc: To beat around the bush (literally: to talk in circles like the Three Kingdoms). This idiom is very close in meaning to "câu kéo", emphasizing indirect and roundabout speech.
  • Đừng nói vòng vo tam quốc nữa, cứ nói thẳng đi! (Stop beating around the bush and speak directly!)

1. như câu cú