Definition

1. Noun:
   • Eyeglasses, spectacles: "Mục kỉnh" refers to eyeglasses or spectacles, but it is used in a humorous, ironic, or mildly mocking tone, often to poke fun at someone for wearing glasses, especially if they are young or pretentious.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Thằng bé mới ba tuổi đã đeo mục kỉnh rồi. (That little boy is only three years old and already wearing specs.)
  • Ông ấy lúc nào cũng giương cặp mục kỉnh dày cộp để đọc sách. (He always puts on his thick gig-lamps to read books.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is inherently stylistic. Its primary "advanced" use is its humorous or sarcastic connotation. It is not a neutral term like "kính đeo mắt" or "kính mắt."
  • Nó mới học đại học đã làm bộ đeo mục kỉnh lên cho ra vẻ trí thức. (He just started university and is already putting on airs by wearing specs to look intellectual.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kính mắt (n): Eyeglasses, spectacles. This is the standard, neutral term.
• Kính đeo mắt (n): Eyeglasses (literally "glasses to wear on eyes"). This is a formal, descriptive term.
• Bésicles (n, from French): An old-fashioned, somewhat humorous term for eyeglasses, similar in tone to "mục kỉnh."

Synonyms

• Kính cận: (Myopia) glasses.
• Kính đeo: Worn glasses (colloquial).

Related Phrases

• Giương mục kỉnh: To put on one's spectacles (often used with the mocking tone of the noun).
  • Nó giương mục kỉnh lên nhìn tôi một cách khó hiểu. (He put on his specs and looked at me in a puzzling way.)

Related Idioms

• While "mục kỉnh" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its usage carries an idiomatic, figurative sense of mild ridicule towards the act or appearance of wearing glasses.
  • Đồ mục kỉnh! (You four-eyes!) – A direct, teasing insult.

noun

1. gig-lamps, specs