công lênh
Definition
- Noun:
- Laborious effort / painstaking work: Refers to the hard work, toil, and significant effort one invests in a task or over a period of time. It emphasizes the strenuous and diligent nature of the work.
- Reward for labor / meager wages: Can denote the compensation, pay, or reward received for such hard work, often implying it is modest or insufficient.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Công lênh chẳng quản bao lâu. (One does not mind how long the laborious effort takes.)
- Công lênh chẳng được là bao. (The reward for the labor is not much at all.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is primarily used in a classical or poetic context, often found in folk poetry () or literature to evoke the value of hard work or the disproportion between effort and reward.
Variants and Related Words
- Công lao (n): merit, contribution; often used for significant achievements or contributions deserving recognition.
- Công sức (n): effort, exertion; a more common modern term for the physical or mental effort put into work.
Synonyms
- Toil: exhausting physical labor.
- Labor: hard work, especially physical work.
- Stipend: a fixed regular sum paid as a salary or allowance, often small.
Related Idioms
- The word itself is often used in set phrases from traditional verses, as shown in the examples. It conveys a traditional, sometimes resigned, perspective on work and its compensation.