Definition

1. Noun:
   • Dust and wind / Blowing dust: The literal meaning refers to dust being stirred up and carried by the wind, creating a dusty, unsettled atmosphere.
   • Troubled times / Turmoil: A figurative meaning describing a period of social or political instability, chaos, and hardship.
2. Adjective (Attributive):
   • Turbulent / Hardscrabble / Full of ups and downs: Describes a life, career, or situation marked by difficulty, instability, and constant struggle.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal):
  • Gió bụi trên đường khiến mọi người phải đeo khẩu trang. (The blowing dust on the road made everyone wear masks.)
• Noun (Figurative):
  • Ông ấy đã sống qua một thời kỳ gió bụi của lịch sử. (He lived through a turbulent period of history.)
• Adjective:
  • Cuộc đời gió bụi của người nghệ sĩ lang thang. (The hardscrabble life of the wandering artist.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used in literary and poetic contexts to evoke a sense of desolation, impermanence, and the hardships of life's journey.
• It can imply a sense of being battered by external circumstances beyond one's control.

Variants and Related Words

• Bão táp (n): Storm; used figuratively for even greater turmoil and violent upheaval than .
• Long đong (adj): Difficult, full of vicissitudes; a close synonym for the adjectival use of .

Synonyms

• Turmoil (for troubled times).
• Dust storm (for the literal sense).
• Turbulent (for the adjective).
• Vicissitudes (for the ups and downs).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Đời gió bụi: A dusty, troubled life. This is a common collocation emphasizing a life of hardship and instability.
  • Một kiếp đời gió bụi. (A life of dust and wind / A troubled life.)
• Nổi cơn gió bụi: To arise (like) a gust of dust and wind. A literary phrase meaning to enter a period of sudden turmoil or conflict.
  • Thuở trời đất nổi cơn gió bụi. (In the time when heaven and earth stirred up turmoil.)

1. Blowing dust and wind
   • Gió bụi trên đường
     The wind and dust blowing on the road
2. Troubled (times).
   • Thuở trời đất nổi cơn gió bụi
     In troubled times by Heaven's will
3. Hard, full of ups and downs
   • Cuộc đời gi'o bụi
     A life full of ups and downs