Definition

1. Verb:
   • To call back to consciousness: The primary meaning of "hú hồn" is to perform actions (like calling out, using remedies) to revive someone who has fainted or lost consciousness.
   • To attempt to revive or resuscitate: It implies an urgent effort to bring someone back from a state of unconsciousness or shock.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Mọi người đang cố gắng hú hồn cho người phụ nữ bị ngất xỉu. (Everyone is trying to call back to consciousness the woman who fainted.)
  • Sau cú ngã, anh ta bất tỉnh, và bác sĩ phải hú hồn ngay lập tức. (After the fall, he was unconscious, and the doctor had to call him back to consciousness immediately.)

Advanced Usage

• "hú hồn hú vía": This is a common reduplicative phrase (láy) that intensifies the meaning. It describes a state of extreme panic or frantic effort to revive someone, often implying a series of urgent actions. It can also figuratively describe being extremely frightened or startled.
  • Nghe tin con bị tai nạn, bà mẹ hú hồn hú vía chạy đến bệnh viện. (Upon hearing her child had an accident, the mother ran to the hospital in a frantic panic.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hú vía (Verb): Often used together with "hú hồn" in the phrase "hú hồn hú vía." On its own, "hú vía" can mean to be scared out of one's wits or to have a terrible fright.
  • Câu chuyện ma đó làm tôi hú vía. (That ghost story scared me out of my wits.)

Synonyms

• Cấp cứu: To give emergency aid/to resuscitate (more medical/formal).
• Làm tỉnh lại: To bring someone around/to revive.

Related Idioms

• Hú hồn hú vía: As mentioned in "Advanced Usage," this is the primary idiomatic expression. It emphasizes a state of extreme alarm or the frantic act of trying to revive someone.
  • Thấy đứa bé rơi xuống nước, người cha nhảy theo, hú hồn hú vía vớt con lên. (Seeing the child fall into the water, the father jumped in, frantically trying to save his child.)

1. Call back to consciousness
   • hú hồn một người bị ngất
     To call backto consciousness someone who has fainted
   • Hú hồn hú vía (láy, ý liên tiếp)