cơm không

Một em bé ăn một bát cơm không trên bàn.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • Plain rice: Refers to cooked rice served or eaten without any accompanying dishes, side dishes, or condiments.
   • A meal of just rice: Can refer to a simple meal consisting solely of rice.

2. Adjective Phrase:

   • Without accompanying dishes: Describes rice that is plain, lacking other food items to eat with it.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Tôi chỉ ăn cơm không thôi. (I only eat plain rice.)
  • Bữa trưa hôm nay chỉ có cơm không. (Today's lunch is just plain rice.)

• Adjective Phrase:

  • Anh ấy ăn một bát cơm không. (He eats a bowl of plain rice.)
  • Nhà nghèo, đôi khi phải ăn cơm không với muối. (The family is poor; sometimes they have to eat plain rice with salt.)

Advanced Usage

• "cơm không áo không": An idiom meaning "destitute" or "having nothing," literally "without rice, without clothes." It emphasizes extreme poverty or having no material possessions.
  • Sau trận lũ, nhiều gia đình rơi vào cảnh cơm không áo không. (After the flood, many families were left destitute.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cơm nguội (n): Cold rice; leftover rice.

  • Sáng nay tôi ăn cơm nguội. (This morning I ate cold rice.)

• Cơm trắng (n): White rice. This is a more neutral term for plain, cooked white rice, but it doesn't inherently carry the connotation of "without anything else" as strongly as cơm không.

  • Mỗi bữa đều có một bát cơm trắng. (Every meal includes a bowl of white rice.)

Synonyms

• Cơm trắng: White rice (though context is key; cơm trắng can be part of a full meal).
• Cơm trơn: A less common synonym meaning plain, unadorned rice.

Related Phrases

• Ăn cơm không: To eat plain rice.

  • Hôm nay tôi mệt, chỉ muốn ăn cơm không. (I'm tired today and just want to eat plain rice.)

• Cơm không canh không: A phrase extending the idea, meaning "without rice and without soup," used to describe a state of having absolutely nothing to eat.

  • Nhà ấy giờ cơm không canh không, thật đáng thương. (That household now has neither rice nor soup; it's truly pitiful.)

Related Idioms

• Đói ăn cơm không cũng ngon: An idiom meaning "When you're hungry, even plain rice tastes delicious," similar to "Hunger is the best sauce."
  • Đúng là đói ăn cơm không cũng ngon, món gì lúc này cũng thấy hấp dẫn. (It's true that when you're hungry, even plain rice is delicious; anything seems appealing right now.)