Definition

1. Verb:
   • To warm up; to reheat: The primary meaning is to heat something, especially food or drink, that has become cold, making it hot again.
   • (Slang) To be slightly crazy, eccentric, or foolish: A colloquial, often humorous or mildly derogatory term describing someone whose behavior or ideas seem odd, silly, or not fully rational.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to reheat):
  • Mẹ tôi hâm lại canh cho bữa tối. (My mother warmed up the soup for dinner.)
  • Cà phê nguội rồi, để tôi hâm nóng lại. (The coffee is cold, let me warm it up.)
• Adjective (slang: eccentric):
  • Đừng nghe lời nó, nó hâm lắm! (Don't listen to him, he's a bit crazy!)
  • Ý tưởng đó nghe có vẻ hâm. (That idea sounds a bit foolish.)

Advanced Usage

• "Hâm hâm": A reduplicated form that intensifies the slang meaning, emphasizing someone is acting very foolishly or is quite eccentric.
  • Anh ta cứ cười một mình, trông hâm hâm. (He keeps laughing by himself, he looks really odd.)
• "Lên cơn hâm": (Slang) To have a fit of foolishness or to start acting in a crazy/irrational way.
  • Nó lại lên cơn hâm, đang đêm đòi đi leo núi. (He's having one of his crazy fits, wanting to go mountain climbing in the middle of the night.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hâm nóng: A more explicit phrase for "to warm up/reheat."
  • Hâm nóng bánh mì trong lò vi sóng. (Warm up the bread in the microwave.)
• Đun lại: A more standard synonym for reheating by boiling or simmering.
• Gàn, khùng: Synonyms for the slang meaning, with "khùng" being stronger (crazy) and "gàn" implying stubborn foolishness.

Synonyms

• Làm nóng lại: To make hot again (neutral synonym for reheating).
• Kỳ quặc, lập dị: Eccentric, odd (more formal synonyms for the slang meaning).

Related Phrases (Colloquial)

• Ăn nói hâm hấp: To speak in a confused, incoherent, or foolish manner.
  • Ông ấy già rồi, đôi khi ăn nói hâm hấp. (He's old, sometimes he talks nonsense.)
• Đồ hâm!: (Exclamation) You fool!/You idiot! (A mild insult).
  • Đồ hâm! Làm gì có chuyện đó. (You idiot! That's not true at all.)

Related Idioms

• Nóng đầu hâm trán: (Literal: hot head, warm forehead) Describes someone who is rash, hot-headed, or acts without thinking, blending the concepts of heat (nóng) and foolishness (hâm).
  • Tính nó nóng đầu hâm trán, hay gây chuyện. (He's hot-headed and foolish, always causing trouble.)

verb

1. to warm up; to make hot again
   • hâm canh
     to warm up the soup