Definition

1. Adjective:
   • To be burnt or scorched: Describes food, especially rice or grains, that has been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature, resulting in a burnt smell, taste, and often a darkened color.
   • To be hoarse or raspy: Describes a voice that is not clear, often due to a sore throat, phlegm, or overuse, giving it a rough, strained quality.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (burnt):
  • Cơm khê rồi. (The rice is burnt.)
  • Mùi khê bốc lên từ nồi. (A burnt smell rose from the pot.)
• Adjective (hoarse):
  • Sau khi hét, giọng cô ấy bị khê. (After shouting, her voice became hoarse.)
  • Anh ấy nói bằng giọng khê đặc. (He spoke in a very hoarse voice.)

Advanced Usage

• In the traditional Vietnamese card game Tổ Tôm, "khê" describes a specific losing situation where a player has a "khàn" (a set of three identical cards) but fails to declare it, thus forfeiting the right to win the round.
  • Ông ấy ù không được vì bị khê khàn. (He couldn't win the round because he failed to declare his set.)
• In an archaic or regional context regarding mutual credit associations ("họ"), "khê" can describe the state of the fund being broken or depleted because many members have taken their shares and left.
  • Cái họ đã khê rồi. (The credit association fund is broken.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khét (adj): Also means burnt or scorched, often with a stronger connotation of a burnt smell.
  • Mùi khét của vải cháy. (The burnt smell of fabric.)
• Khàn (adj): Specifically describes a hoarse, deep, or grating voice.
  • Giọng khàn vì cảm. (A voice hoarse from a cold.)

Synonyms

• Burnt: Scorched, charred (for food).
• Hoarse: Raspy, gravelly, rough (for voice).

Related Idioms

• Trên sống, dưới khê: Literally "raw on top, burnt below." An idiom describing a situation where something is poorly executed, being both underdone and overdone at the same time, leading to a complete failure.
  • Nấu ăn mà không canh lửa thì sẽ thành trên sống, dưới khê. (If you don't watch the heat while cooking, it will end up raw on top and burnt on the bottom.)
• Cơm sôi cả lửa thì khê: A proverb meaning "If the rice boils with too much fire, it will burn." It teaches that excessive haste or intensity can ruin the outcome.

adj

1. to be burnt
   • cơm khê
     burnt rice