hoi sữa

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • Milk breath: The literal meaning refers to the characteristic smell of milk on the breath of a nursing infant or young child.
    • Extreme youth and inexperience: A figurative and derogatory term used to describe someone, typically a young person, as being immature, naive, and lacking life experience, akin to a helpless infant.
Usage Examples
  • Noun (Literal):
    • Đứa bé ngủ say, thở ra hơi sữa thơm phức. (The baby slept soundly, exhaling a fragrant milk breath.)
  • Noun (Figurative):
    • Nó mới ra trường, còn hơi sữa lắm, đừng giao việc quan trọng thế. (He just graduated; he's still wet behind the ears. Don't assign such important work.)
    • Tưởng nó ghê gớm, hóa ra vẫn còn nguyên hơi sữa. (I thought he was impressive, but it turns out he's still just a naive kid.)
Advanced Usage
  • The term is almost exclusively used in a belittling or contemptuous context when applied to a person beyond infancy. It emphasizes a lack of competence, worldliness, or toughness.
Variants and Related Words
  • Sữa (n): milk. The root word of the phrase.
  • Trẻ người non dạ (idiom): young in age and immature in mind; green.
Synonyms
  • Wet behind the ears: (English idiom) inexperienced; naive.
  • Green: inexperienced or untrained.
  • Callow: lacking adult sophistication; immature.
Related Idioms
  • Còn thơ dại: to still be in a state of childish innocence.
    • Nó nói chuyện như thể vẫn còn thơ dại vậy. (He talks as if he's still a child.)
  • Non choẹt: very young and immature.
    • Một kẻ non choẹt chưa biết gì về cuộc đời. (A greenhorn who knows nothing about life.)