Definition

1. Noun:
   • A very short distance; a tiny space: Refers to an extremely small interval or gap, often used to describe physical proximity or a narrow margin.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Hai người đứng cách nhau chỉ trong gang tấc. (The two people were standing just a hair's breadth apart.)
  • Chiếc xe suýt đâm vào tường, chỉ trong gang tấc. (The car almost hit the wall, missing it by a whisker.)

Advanced Usage

• "trong gang tấc": This is the most common collocation, meaning "within a hair's breadth," "by a whisker," or "extremely close."
  • Tai nạn đã xảy ra trong gang tấc. (The accident happened by a hair's breadth.)
• Used to emphasize the narrowness of an escape, a victory, or physical closeness.
  • Anh ấy thắng cuộc đua chỉ trong gang tấc. (He won the race by a nose.)

Variants and Related Words

• Gang: (noun) Can mean a span (the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the hand is stretched out), used in measurements like "gang tay" (a handspan).
• Tấc: (noun) An old Vietnamese unit of length (approximately 4 cm or 1 decimeter), also meaning "inch" in a figurative sense for a small measurement.
• Gần gụi: (adjective) Close, intimate. While related in meaning to proximity, it describes emotional or relational closeness, not a precise physical measurement like "gang tấc."

Synonyms

• Khoảng cách rất ngắn: A very short distance.
• Một chút xíu: A tiny bit (of space).
• Sát nút: Very close, neck and neck (often for competitions or timing).

Related Idioms

• Gần trong gang tấc: (Idiomatic) So close it's within a handspan; right at one's fingertips.
  • Ngôi nhà mơ ước của cô ấy đã gần trong gang tấc. (Her dream house was almost within her grasp.)
• Tưởng xa hóa gần, tưởng gần hóa xa: (Proverb) Thinking something is far but it turns out to be near, and vice versa. This contrasts with the absolute closeness denoted by "gang tấc."

1. Very short distance