Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Loose; scattered; falling or hanging in a disorderly, untidy manner: Describes objects that are dispersed, not gathered together, or falling apart in a disorganized way.
   • Incoherent; disjointed; rambling: Describes speech, thoughts, or writing that lacks logical connection and clarity, often jumping from one point to another.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Physical Scattering):

  • Những chiếc lá khô rơi lả tả trên mặt đất. (The dry leaves fell scattered on the ground.)
  • Cô ấy ôm quá nhiều sách nên chúng rơi lả tả xuống sàn. (She was carrying too many books, so they fell in a scattered mess onto the floor.)

• Adjective (Incoherence):

  • Sau cú sốc, lời nói của anh ấy trở nên lả tả, khó hiểu. (After the shock, his speech became incoherent and hard to understand.)
  • Bài viết này có cấu trúc lả tả, thiếu mạch lạc. (This essay has a disjointed structure, lacking coherence.)

Advanced Usage

• "nói lả tả": to speak incoherently; to ramble.

  • Bệnh nhân sốt cao và bắt đầu nói lả tả. (The patient had a high fever and began to speak incoherently.)

• "rơi lả tả": to fall scattered; to tumble down in a disorderly fashion.

  • Những giọt mưa đầu mùa rơi lả tả trên mái tôn. (The first raindrops of the season fell scattered on the tin roof.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lả chả (adj): A less common variant with a similar meaning of being scattered or loose.
• Tả tơi (adj): Ragged, tattered; in a state of complete disarray or ruin. Often implies a more severe state of destruction than "lả tả".
  • Sau cơn bão, căn nhà bị tả tơi. (After the storm, the house was in tatters.)

Synonyms

• Lộn xộn (adj): Messy, disorderly (more general).
• Rời rạc (adj): Fragmented, piecemeal.
• Lúng túng (adj) / ỡm ờ (adj): Hesitant, faltering (for speech, but with a different nuance).

Related Phrases

• Để rơi lả tả: To let something fall and scatter.
  • Đừng để đồ đạc rơi lả tả như vậy. (Don't let the belongings fall and scatter like that.)

Related Idioms

• (Không có một thành ngữ phổ biến nào sử dụng trực tiếp từ "lả tả". Tuy nhiên, nó thường xuất hiện trong các cụm mô tả như trên.) (There is no common idiom that directly uses the word "lả tả". However, it frequently appears in descriptive phrases as shown above.)

adj

1. loose; incoherent