Definition

Verb: - To empty one's savings, typically from a traditional bamboo savings tube ("ống"); to spend or use all of one's saved money. - To use up all of one's resources or reserves.

Usage

This verb describes the action of taking out everything that has been saved, implying the complete depletion of one's funds or resources. It often carries a nuance of using the last of one's savings for a specific purpose.

Examples: - Anh ấy phải dốc ống để mua chiếc xe máy mới. (He had to empty his savings to buy the new motorbike.) - Để chữa bệnh cho con, họ đã dốc ống. (To treat their child's illness, they used up all their savings.)

Advanced Usage / Nuances

• The phrase originates from the traditional practice of saving coins in a bamboo tube. "Dốc" means to pour out or tip over, and "ống" means tube. Thus, it literally means "to tip over the tube," causing all its contents to fall out.
• It is often used in contexts of necessity, sacrifice, or significant, unavoidable expense.
• While "ống" can refer to a purse or pocket in modern usage, the imagery of the bamboo savings tube remains central to its meaning.

Variants and Related Words

• Dốc túi (Verb): A more modern synonym meaning "to empty one's pocket," with essentially the same meaning as "dốc ống."
• Dốc hết (Verb Phrase): To pour out everything; to use up everything (can apply to money, effort, resources).
• Ống heo / Ống tiết kiệm (Noun): Piggy bank; savings tube.

Synonyms

• Tiêu hết tiền dành dụm: To spend all one's savings.
• Xài hết sạch tiền: To use up all the money.
• Sử dụng hết vốn liếng: To use up all one's capital/resources.

Related Idioms / Set Phrases

• Dốc ống dốc túi: An intensified phrase combining "dốc ống" (empty the tube) and "dốc túi" (empty the pocket), emphasizing the act of spending absolutely every last bit of money one has.
  • Họ dốc ống dốc túi để lo đám cưới cho con. (They emptied their entire savings to organize their child's wedding.)

1. Empty one's bamboo pipe saving bank of its contents; empty one's purse