cướp chồng
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To steal someone's husband: The act of taking another woman's husband away, typically by initiating a romantic or sexual relationship with him, resulting in him leaving his wife or partner.
- To seduce another's husband: To deliberately attract and entice a married man to have an affair, with the implication of taking him from his family.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Cô ta bị cả làng lên án vì tội cướp chồng người khác. (She was condemned by the whole village for the crime of stealing another's husband.)
- Câu chuyện về một người phụ nữ đi cướp chồng bạn thân gây xôn xao dư luận. (The story of a woman who stole her best friend's husband caused a public stir.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is highly pejorative and carries a strong moral judgment. It is used to assign blame, often solely to the woman involved, within a traditional social context.
- It implies a deliberate, active, and morally wrong action that destroys an existing marriage or family unit.
Variants and Related Words
- Cướp vợ (verb phrase): To steal someone's wife. The male-gendered counterpart to "cướp chồng."
- Hắn cướp vợ của đồng nghiệp. (He stole his colleague's wife.)
Synonyms
- To steal someone's husband: The direct conceptual synonym in English.
- To break up a marriage: A more general phrase for causing a marriage to end.
- To seduce a married man: Describes the method of the action.
Related Idioms and Cultural Context
- The concept is often discussed in the context of "kẻ thứ ba" (the third party) or "người thứ ba" (the third person), referring to the person who intrudes into a marriage.
- While not a fixed idiom, the action is frequently described as "phá hoại hạnh phúc gia đình" (to destroy family happiness).