lang sói

Mẹ tôi thường hái lang sói để nấu canh chua.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • Wolf's tongue: The literal meaning refers to the tongue of a wolf.
   • A type of plant: A common figurative meaning for a specific, sharp-tasting herb, often identified as a type of sorrel or dock (Rumex species).

2. Adjective (figurative):

   • Cruel; beastly; savage: Used to describe a person's nature or actions that are vicious, merciless, or wolf-like in ferocity.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Plant):
  • Mẹ tôi thường hái lang sói để nấu canh chua. (My mother often picks lang sói to cook sour soup.)
• Adjective:
  • Hắn ta có bản tính lang sói, chẳng biết thương xót ai. (He has a beastly nature, showing mercy to no one.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in its botanical sense in everyday language. The adjectival sense describing cruelty is strong, literary, and somewhat archaic.

Variants and Related Words

• Rau lang sói: A more specific term for the plant, meaning "lang sói vegetable/herb".

Synonyms

• Cruel: Willfully causing pain or suffering to others.
• Savage: Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.
• Beastly: Resembling or appropriate to a beast; brutish.

Related Idioms

• Lòng lang dạ sói: (Literally "wolf's heart, beast's stomach") An idiom describing someone with an extremely cruel and vicious nature.
  • Kẻ phản bội đó quả là lòng lang dạ sói. (That traitor is truly vicious and cruel.)