lí sự
Definition
Verb:
- To argue pedantically / to reason sophistically: To engage in overly elaborate, often pointless or stubborn argumentation, focusing on trivial details or flawed logic rather than the main point.
- To be argumentative: To have a tendency to dispute or contradict, often in a nitpicking or unreasonable manner.
Noun:
- Sophistry / Pedantic argument: Vain, excessively subtle, or misleading reasoning used to argue.
Usage Examples
Verb:
- Đừng lí sự nữa, hãy nghe lời người lớn. (Stop arguing pedantically; listen to your elders.)
- Nó chỉ biết lí sự mỗi khi bị phê bình. (He only knows how to be argumentative whenever he is criticized.)
Noun:
- Lời lí sự của anh ta chẳng thuyết phục được ai. (His sophistry didn't convince anyone.)
- Đó chỉ là một thứ lí sự vòng vo. (That is just a kind of roundabout, pedantic argument.)
Advanced Usage
- The term often carries a strong negative connotation, implying that the argument is annoying, obstructive, or intellectually dishonest.
- It is frequently used by an authority figure (e.g., parent, teacher, boss) toward someone perceived as talking back with unnecessary or disrespectful reasoning.
Variants and Related Words
- Cãi lí (v): A more common and colloquial synonym meaning to argue back, to dispute stubbornly.
- Con không được cãi lí với mẹ. (You must not argue back with your mother.)
Synonyms
- To quibble: To argue about small, unimportant details.
- To split hairs: To make trivial distinctions.
- To be disputatious: Inclined to argue.
Related Idioms
- Lí sự cùn: (Derived from the French reference) To reason very poorly or stupidly; to argue in a completely illogical way.
- Đừng nghe nó, toàn là lí sự cùn. (Don't listen to him; it's all stupid argument.)