Definition

1. Adjective (colloquial, often vulgar):
   • Having diarrhea: The primary and most common meaning refers to the physical condition of suffering from watery, loose bowel movements.
   • Feeling sudden fear or shock (figurative): Used metaphorically to describe a feeling of being so frightened, startled, or anxious that one feels a physical chill or a sinking sensation in the gut.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ăn đồ đó vào là lạnh dạ ngay. (Eating that will give you diarrhea immediately.)
  • Nghe tin đó, tôi lạnh dạ cả người. (Hearing that news, I was chilled to the core.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is informal and carries a crude, graphic connotation due to its direct reference to bodily functions. Its figurative use for fear is vivid and dramatic.

Variants and Related Words

• Đau bụng (v/n): to have a stomach ache; a stomach ache.
  • Anh ấy bị đau bụng. (He has a stomach ache.)
• Tiêu chảy (n): diarrhea (the standard, neutral medical term).
  • Bệnh nhân có triệu chứng tiêu chảy. (The patient has symptoms of diarrhea.)

Synonyms

• Have the runs: (idiomatic, informal) to have diarrhea.
• Chilled to the bone / scared stiff: (for the figurative meaning) to be extremely frightened.

Related Idioms

• Sợ xanh mắt: to be scared out of one's wits (a less vulgar alternative for fear).
  • Nó sợ xanh mắt khi thấy cảnh sát. (He was scared out of his wits when he saw the police.)