mất vía
Definition
- Adjective (colloquial):
- To be terrified / scared out of one's wits: A state of extreme fright or shock, often causing a temporary loss of composure or the feeling of one's spirit ("vía") leaving the body.
- To be petrified: To be so frightened as to be unable to move or think.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Đang đi trong rừng, trông thấy hổ là tôi mất vía. (While walking in the forest, seeing a tiger scared me out of my wits.)
- Nghe tiếng nổ lớn, đứa bé mất vía khóc thét lên. (Hearing the loud explosion, the child was terrified and screamed.)
- Câu chuyện ma đó làm tôi gần như mất vía. (That ghost story almost petrified me.)
Advanced Usage
- The term originates from folk belief, where "vía" refers to a person's vital spirit or soul. "Mất vía" literally means to lose this spirit due to extreme fear.
- It is often used in informal, spoken language to emphasize a sudden and intense fear.
Variants and Related Words
- Hồn vía (n): spirit, soul (often used in contexts of fear, e.g., "bay mất hồn vía" - to be scared to death).
- Kinh hồn (adj): horrified, terrified (a close synonym with similar intensity).
Synonyms
- Terrified: filled with extreme fear.
- Petrified: so frightened as to be paralyzed.
- Frightened out of one's wits: extremely scared.
Related Idioms
- Hồn vía lên mây: (one's) spirit flies to the clouds; to be extremely frightened.
- Nhìn từ trên cao xuống, tôi hồn vía lên mây. (Looking down from the height, I was scared out of my mind.)
- Sợ mất mặt: to be afraid of losing face (Note: This is conceptually different, relating to shame, not fear).