cụt tay
Definitions
Adjective:
- Having a severed or amputated arm/hand: Describes a person or creature that has lost part or all of an arm or hand, typically through amputation or injury.
- Figuratively, lacking a crucial part or being incomplete: Used metaphorically to describe something that is missing a vital component, making it dysfunctional or incomplete.
Noun (informal):
- A person with an amputated arm/hand: A term used to refer to an individual who has had an arm or hand amputated.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- Sau tai nạn, ông ấy bị cụt tay. (After the accident, he had an amputated arm.)
- Bức tượng cụt tay vẫn rất đẹp. (The statue with a missing arm is still very beautiful.)
- Đội bóng thiếu tiền đạo như cụt tay. (The football team without a striker is like having a missing arm [is crippled].)
Noun:
- Mọi người đều tôn trọng anh cụt tay ấy. (Everyone respects that man with the amputated arm.)
Advanced Usage
"cụt tay cụt chân": A common paired phrase meaning "severed limbs" or, figuratively, "crippled" or "severely handicapped".
- Chiếc máy cũ kỹ, cụt tay cụt chân. (The old machine is missing parts [is crippled].)
"làm như cụt tay": To act as if one's hands are tied/amputated; to be helpless or unable to do anything.
- Đứng nhìn mà không giúp được, tôi cảm thấy như cụt tay. (Standing by watching without being able to help, I felt utterly helpless.)
Variants and Related Words
- Cụt (adj): Shortened, cut off, truncated. Can be combined with other body parts (e.g., - having an amputated leg, - having a docked tail).
- Cụt hứng (adj, informal): To have one's enthusiasm or mood cut short.
- Thọt/cụt (adj, informal): Lamely describing something as shortened or cut off.
Synonyms
- Mất tay: To have lost an arm/hand.
- Khuyết tật tay/chân/tay chân: Having a disability of the arm/leg/limbs (more formal and respectful).
- Tàn tật: Disabled, handicapped (general, formal term).
Related Idioms
Cụt đầu cụt đuôi: Missing the head and the tail; describing a story or information that is incomplete, fragmented, or makes no sense.
- Câu chuyện anh kể cụt đầu cụt đuôi, chẳng ai hiểu gì. (The story you told is all bits and pieces, nobody understands anything.)
Nói cụt lủn / Nói cụt ngủn: To speak very abruptly or curtly; to cut one's speech short.
- Cô ấy trả lời cụt lủn rồi bỏ đi. (She answered curtly and then left.)