gác bút
Definition
- Verb phrase:
- To stop writing; to cease literary work: "gác bút" literally means "to put down the pen" and is used figuratively to describe the act of an author, writer, or journalist permanently stopping their writing career or creative work.
- To retire from writing: It implies a deliberate and final decision to end one's work as a writer.
Usage Examples
- Verb phrase:
- Sau hơn 50 năm cầm bút, nhà văn quyết định gác bút. (After more than 50 years of writing, the author decided to stop writing / retire from writing.)
- Ông ấy tuyên bố gác bút vì lý do sức khỏe. (He announced he was ceasing his literary work due to health reasons.)
Advanced Usage
- "gác bút từ lâu": to have stopped writing a long time ago.
- Nhà thơ nổi tiếng ấy đã gác bút từ lâu. (That famous poet stopped writing a long time ago.)
- "quyết định gác bút": to make the decision to stop writing.
- Sau vụ tranh cãi, nhà báo đã quyết định gác bút. (After the controversy, the journalist decided to retire from writing.)
Variants and Related Words
- Gác kiếm (verb phrase): to hang up one's sword; to retire from a military or combative profession. This is a similar metaphorical structure.
- Vị tướng già đã gác kiếm về quê. (The old general hung up his sword and returned to his homeland.)
- Cầm bút (verb phrase): to take up the pen; to be a writer or to start writing. This is the opposite action.
- Ông bắt đầu cầm bút từ khi còn rất trẻ. (He started writing when he was very young.)
Synonyms
- Từ bỏ nghề viết: to give up the writing profession.
- Ngừng sáng tác: to stop creating/composing (literary or artistic works).
Related Idioms
- "Gác bút nghiên": A more formal or classical variant with the same meaning, where "nghiên" refers to the inkstone. It means to put aside the pen and inkstone, i.e., to stop scholarly or literary work.
- Sau khi hoàn thành bộ tiểu thuyết đồ sộ, ông muốn gác bút nghiên. (After completing the monumental novel series, he wanted to retire from writing.)