Definition

Noun: * Old acquaintance, old friend: A person with whom one has had a long-standing, familiar relationship. The term carries a sense of deep familiarity and a shared history, often implying a bond that has endured over time. It is a formal and literary term.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Họ là những người cố tri từ thời còn đi học. (They are old friends from their school days.)
  • Trong buổi họp lớp, tôi gặp lại nhiều cố tri. (At the class reunion, I met many old acquaintances.)
  • Cuộc gặp gỡ giữa hai cố tri đầy xúc động. (The meeting between the two old friends was very moving.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "cố tri" is often used in formal, literary, or poetic contexts. In everyday spoken Vietnamese, people more commonly use "bạn cũ" (old friend) or "người quen cũ" (old acquaintance).
• It can be used to respectfully refer to someone with whom one shares a long history, even if the relationship is not extremely close, emphasizing the duration of the familiarity.

Variants and Related Words

• Bạn cũ (n): Old friend. (A more common, everyday synonym).
• Tri kỷ / Bạn tri kỷ (n): Bosom friend, confidant. (Implies a deeper, more intimate understanding than "cố tri").
• Bạn bè (n): Friends. (General term).
• Người quen (n): Acquaintance.

Synonyms

• Bạn cũ: Old friend.
• Người quen cũ: Old acquaintance.

Related Idioms

• "Cố tri ngộ cố tri": An idiom describing the joyful and emotional reunion of old friends after a long separation. It translates to "old friend meets old friend."
  • Sau hai mươi năm xa cách, cuộc gặp gỡ của họ thật đúng là cố tri ngộ cố tri. (After twenty years apart, their reunion was truly a case of old friends meeting again.)

noun

1. old acquaintance