lọt lưới
Definition
- Verb Phrase:
- To slip through the net: The primary meaning of "lọt lưới" is to escape capture, detection, or punishment, especially when one should have been caught by an authority or system designed to prevent such an escape.
- To get through / to pass through: It can also describe successfully passing a screening, selection, or filtering process, often unexpectedly or undesirably.
Usage Examples
- Verb Phrase:
- Tên tội phạm đã lọt lưới cảnh sát. (The criminal slipped through the police net.)
- Một số lỗi kỹ thuật đã lọt lưới kiểm duyệt. (Some technical errors got through the screening process.)
- Cầu thủ đó suýt lọt lưới các nhà tuyển trạch. (That player nearly slipped through the scouts' net.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is often used in formal contexts like news reports about crime, security breaches, or quality control failures to emphasize a systemic failure or oversight.
- Hàng giả vẫn lọt lưới và được bán trên thị trường. (Counterfeit goods still slip through the net and are sold on the market.)
Variants and Related Words
- Lọt (v): to fall through, to slip into. This is the core verb meaning to pass through a narrow space or barrier.
- Lưới (n): net. This is the literal noun for a net, extended to mean a trap, dragnet, or screening system.
Synonyms
- Escape detection: to avoid being noticed or discovered.
- Evade capture: to avoid being caught.
- Slip through: to pass through a barrier or checkpoint unnoticed.
Related Idioms
- Lọt vào mắt xanh: to catch someone's fancy (literally: to fall into the blue eye). This is a positive idiom about being noticed, in contrast to "lọt lưới."
- Lọt sàng xuống nia: to go from bad to worse (literally: to fall through the sieve down to the winnowing basket). This describes moving from one problematic situation to a worse one.