làm tôi
Definition
Verb (archaic):
- To become a vassal/subject: To formally enter into a relationship of servitude or fealty to a ruler or lord, acknowledging their authority.
- To serve as a retainer: To perform the duties of a servant or subordinate in a feudal or hierarchical context.
Verb (modern, figurative):
- To work as someone's subordinate: To be employed in a position of servitude or low-ranking service to another person.
- To be subservient to: To act in a manner that shows excessive obedience or submission to another's will.
Usage Examples
- Verb (archaic):
- Các lãnh chúa nhỏ buộc phải làm tôi cho nhà vua. (The minor lords were forced to become vassals to the king.)
- Verb (modern, figurative):
- Ông ấy không muốn cả đời chỉ làm tôi cho người khác. (He doesn't want to spend his whole life just being a subordinate to others.)
- Tôi sẽ không làm tôi cho đồng tiền. (I will not be a slave to money.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is rarely used in contemporary literal contexts. Its modern use is almost entirely metaphorical, expressing a state of subjugation, lack of autonomy, or blind service to a person, idea, or material object (e.g., power, fashion, debt).
Variants and Related Words
- Đầy tớ (n): Servant. A more common, direct word for a domestic worker or servant.
- Người giúp việc đó là một đầy tớ trung thành. (That helper is a loyal servant.)
- Nô lệ (n): Slave. Implies a complete lack of freedom and personal rights.
- Lịch sử ghi lại thời kỳ con người bị bắt làm nô lệ. (History records a time when people were captured to be slaves.)
Synonyms
- To serve: To perform duties for someone.
- To be subservient to: To be excessively willing to obey others.
- To vassalize: To bring into a condition of subservience (archaic/formal).
Related Idioms
- Làm tôi mọi: An intensified, more derogatory phrase meaning to act as a lowly servant or slave.
- Anh ta cứ sống như đang làm tôi mọi cho sự nghiệp. (He lives as if he is a slave to his career.)