cốc đế

Ngư dân huấn luyện cốc đế để bắt cá.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Cormorant (a type of waterbird): "cốc đế" refers specifically to a fishing cormorant, a large waterbird known for its diving ability to catch fish.
   • An extremely old person (figurative, archaic): In a dated figurative sense, "cốc đế" can be used to describe someone as old as Methuselah, implying great age.

Usage Examples

• Noun (literal - bird):

  • Ngư dân huấn luyện cốc đế để bắt cá. (Fishermen train cormorants to catch fish.)
  • Cốc đế là loài chim lặn rất giỏi. (The cormorant is a bird that is very good at diving.)

• Noun (figurative - old person):

  • Ông ấy già như cốc đế vậy. (He is as old as the hills.)

Advanced Usage

• The figurative usage comparing a person to "cốc đế" is an archaic idiom and is rarely used in modern Vietnamese. The more common modern simile for great age is "già như cục đất" or simply "rất già".

Variants and Related Words

• Cốc (n): A general, more common term for cormorant. "Cốc đế" is a specific type or evokes the image of a fishing cormorant.
• Chim cốc (n): Another way to say "cormorant" (literally "cormorant bird").

Synonyms

• Chim bói cá (n): Kingfisher (a different fishing bird, but often mentioned in similar contexts of birds that catch fish).
• Lão làng (n): Veteran, old hand (for the figurative sense of an experienced, often older person, but without the extreme age connotation).

Related Idioms

• Già như cốc đế: As old as Methuselah; extremely old. This is the primary idiom containing the word.
  • Câu chuyện đó già như cốc đế rồi. (That story is as old as the hills.)