Definition

1. Adverb:
   • Very occasionally, far between: Describes an event or action that happens extremely rarely, with long intervals between occurrences.
   • Once in a blue moon: An idiomatic equivalent emphasizing the extreme infrequency of an event.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:
  • Họa hoằn mới uống cốc rượu. (I drink a glass of wine very occasionally.)
  • Anh ấy họa hoằn mới đến thăm. (He visits once in a blue moon.)
  • Những lỗi như thế này chỉ xảy ra họa hoằn. (Mistakes like this happen only very rarely.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to modify verbs, emphasizing the exceptional rarity of the action. It often carries a nuance that the event is an exception to the norm.
  • Họa hoằn lắm tôi mới đi xem phim. (It's very rare that I go to the cinema.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thỉnh thoảng (adv): occasionally, sometimes (implies more frequency than ).
• Hiếm khi (adv): rarely, seldom.
• Độc nhất vô nhị (adj/phrase): unique, one of a kind (describes uniqueness, not frequency).

Synonyms

• Very rarely
• Once in a great while
• Infrequently
• Sporadically

Related Idioms

• Năm thì mười họa: An idiom with a similar meaning, suggesting something happens only a few times out of many chances (literally "five times, ten perhaps").
  • Chuyện đó năm thì mười họa mới xảy ra. (That happens only once in a blue moon.)

1. Very occasionally, far between, once in a blue moon
   • Họa hoằn mới uống cốc rượu
     To drink a glass of wine very occasionally