hồ lơ

Thân thiện

Người giúp việc nhúng chiếc áo sơ mi trắng vào hồ lơ.

Definitions

1. Verb:
   • To blue, to apply blue (to laundry): The action of dipping or rinsing white laundry that has been freshly washed in a diluted blue dye solution to make it appear whiter and brighter. This is a traditional laundry technique.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Sau khi giặt, bà tôi thường hồ lơ áo trắng. (After washing, my grandmother often blues the white shirts.)
  • Quần áo trắng sẽ trông sáng hơn nếu được hồ lơ. (White clothes will look brighter if they are blued.)

Advanced Usage

• This term describes a specific, somewhat old-fashioned household chore. It is less common in modern contexts due to the prevalence of commercial detergents and optical brighteners.
• The process involves using a substance called "phẩm xanh" or "xanh hồ lơ" (blueing agent).

Variants and Related Words

• Phẩm xanh / Xanh hồ lơ (n): Blueing agent; the blue dye used in the process.
• Hồ (v): To starch. While (starching) and (bluing) are different laundry steps, they are sometimes mentioned together in the context of traditional garment care.

Synonyms

• Làm xanh (quần áo): To make (clothes) blue. (A more general, descriptive phrase.)
• Azurer (French loanword): To blue. (A technical term from French, as seen in the historical Vietnamese-French dictionary.)

Related Phrases/Idioms

• : This is a rhyming reduplication phrase. "Hồ lửa" is not a standard term, but the phrase as a whole is used colloquially to mean doing something carelessly, haphazardly, or without proper attention. It humorously extends from the precise action of .
  • Làm việc gì cũng phải cẩn thận, đừng hồ lơ hồ lửa. (You must be careful with everything you do, don't do it in a sloppy, careless manner.)

Học thuật

1. Blue, apply blue to (laundry)