dài ngoằng
Definition
- Adjective:
- Excessively long, tediously long, drawn-out: Describes something that is not only long in physical length or duration but also feels unnecessarily extended, often in a boring, tedious, or cumbersome way. It carries a negative connotation of being annoyingly or excessively long.
- Long-winded, rambling: Used to describe speech, writing, or explanations that are unnecessarily verbose and difficult to follow due to their excessive length.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Câu chuyện của ông ấy dài ngoằng và chẳng có điểm nhấn nào. (His story was tediously long and had no highlights.)
- Con đường về nhà dài ngoằng, khiến tôi mệt mỏi. (The road home was excessively long, making me tired.)
- Đừng viết một báo cáo dài ngoằng như vậy, hãy cô đọng ý chính lại. (Don't write such a long-winded report; condense the main ideas.)
Advanced Usage
- Often used in informal, spoken Vietnamese to express frustration or annoyance about the length of something.
- Can be used metaphorically to describe abstract concepts like time, processes, or explanations, not just physical objects.
- Thủ tục hành chính dài ngoằng khiến nhiều người nản chí. (The drawn-out administrative procedures discourage many people.)
Variants and Related Words
- Dài (adj): Long. This is the neutral base word.
- Dài dòng (adj): Long-winded, verbose. Very close in meaning to "dài ngoằng" but may be slightly less informal.
- Lê thê (adj): Protracted, dragging on. Similar in conveying a sense of something being tediously prolonged.
Synonyms
- Dài dằng dặc: Very long and seemingly endless.
- Dài lê thê: Dragging on and on.
- Rườm rà: Verbose, overly complicated (often for language or procedures).
Related Idioms
- Dài như địa lý: (As long as geography) An idiom meaning extremely long and boring, often referring to speech or writing.
- Bài diễn văn của hiệu trưởng dài như địa lý. (The principal's speech was as long and boring as a geography lesson.)