hổ
- Noun:
- Tiger: A large, powerful carnivorous mammal (Panthera tigris) of the cat family, having a tawny coat with black stripes.
- Shame / Embarrassment: A feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. (This is an archaic or literary meaning, now less common.)
- Noun (Animal):
- Trong rừng có một con hổ. (There is a tiger in the forest.)
- Hổ là loài vật mạnh mẽ và uy nghiêm. (The tiger is a powerful and majestic animal.)
- Noun (Feeling - archaic):
- Lòng hổ thẹn trào dâng. (A feeling of shame welled up.)
"hổ báo": A term often used to refer to fierce or formidable people, combining "hổ" (tiger) and "báo" (leopard).
- Hắn ta có dáng vẻ của một kẻ hổ báo. (He has the demeanor of a fierce and formidable person.)
"diệu hổ ly sơn": A classical idiom from military strategy, meaning "to lure the tiger out of the mountains," i.e., to entice an enemy out of their stronghold.
- Kế sách ấy gọi là diệu hổ ly sơn. (That tactic is called "luring the tiger out of the mountains.")
Cọp (n): A common synonym for "hổ" (tiger) in Southern Vietnamese dialects.
- Con cọp đang ngủ. (The tiger is sleeping.)
Hổ thẹn (adj): To feel ashamed or embarrassed. This compound word makes the "shame" meaning clearer.
- Cậu ấy cảm thấy rất hổ thẹn. (He felt very ashamed.)
- Tiger: The primary meaning.
- Shame: For the archaic emotional sense (as in ).
Hổ phụ sinh hổ tử: "A tiger father begets a tiger son," meaning a talented or formidable child is expected from a talented parent.
- Anh ấy giỏi như cha, đúng là hổ phụ sinh hổ tử. (He is as skilled as his father; truly, a tiger father begets a tiger son.)
Tránh vỏ dưa gặp vỏ dừa / Tránh hùm mắc hổ: "To avoid the melon peel only to meet the coconut peel / To avoid the leopard only to meet the tiger," meaning to escape one danger only to fall into a worse one.
- Việc đó chẳng khác nào tránh hùm mắc hổ. (That is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.)