căng óc
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To cudgel one's brains: To think very hard or strain one's mind, often to solve a difficult problem, understand a complex idea, or remember something.
- To rack one's brain: To make a great mental effort.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Tôi phải căng óc để giải bài toán khó này. (I have to cudgel my brains to solve this difficult math problem.)
- Cả nhóm căng óc tìm ý tưởng mới cho dự án. (The whole group racked their brains to find a new idea for the project.)
- Anh ấy căng óc nhớ lại tên của người đó. (He strained his mind trying to remember that person's name.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase describes a state of intense, often tiring, concentration. It implies the mental effort is strenuous, like a physical strain.
Variants and Related Words
- Căng thẳng (adj): tense, stressed. While related to mental strain, this word refers more to a general state of stress rather than the active process of intense thinking.
- Công việc khiến cô ấy rất căng thẳng. (The work makes her very stressed.)
- Suy nghĩ nát óc (verb phrase): to think until one's brain is mashed; an even more emphatic idiom for thinking extremely hard.
Synonyms
- To think hard: To concentrate deeply.
- To strain one's mind: To exert mental effort to the point of fatigue.
- To puzzle over: To think deeply about something confusing.
Related Idioms
- Vắt óc suy nghĩ: Literally "to wring one's brain thinking"; a synonymous idiom for thinking intensely.
- Họ vắt óc suy nghĩ tìm cách thoát khỏi tình huống. (They wracked their brains to find a way out of the situation.)
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Cudgel one's brains
