Definition

1. Verb:
   • To speak ill of someone, to backbite: The act of saying negative or harmful things about someone who is not present, often to damage their reputation. This can involve spreading true negative information or fabricating false negative information.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy thường nói xấu đồng nghiệp sau lưng. (She often speaks ill of her colleagues behind their backs.)
  • Đừng nói xấu người khác khi họ không có mặt ở đó. (Don't backbite others when they are not present.)
  • Họ bịa chuyện để nói xấu đối thủ chính trị. (They fabricated stories to speak ill of their political opponent.)

Advanced Usage

• "nói xấu sau lưng": to speak ill of someone behind their back (emphasizes the secrecy of the act).

  • Anh ta không dám đối mặt, chỉ dám nói xấu sau lưng. (He doesn't dare to confront, he only dares to speak ill behind people's backs.)

• "nói xấu đủ điều": to say all sorts of bad things about someone (emphasizes the extent or variety of the negative talk).

  • Họ nói xấu đủ điều về dự án mới. (They said all sorts of bad things about the new project.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vu khống / Phỉ báng (v): To slander, to libel. These are stronger, often legal terms for making false and damaging statements.

  • Hành động vu khống có thể bị kiện ra tòa. (An act of slander can be taken to court.)

• Chê bai (v): To criticize, to find fault. This can be done directly or indirectly and may not always imply malice or absence of the person being criticized.

  • Anh ấy thẳng thắn chê bai ý tưởng đó trong cuộc họp. (He openly criticized that idea in the meeting.)

Synonyms

• Bôi nhọ: To smear, to defame (often with the intent to ruin a reputation).
• Gièm pha: To gossip maliciously, to sow discord (often involves subtle or insinuating negative talk).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Đâm bị thóc, chọc bị gạo (Idiomatic expression): Literally "to poke the rice basket, to poke the glutinous rice basket," meaning to stir up trouble, often by gossiping or speaking ill to create conflict between parties.
  • Bà ấy chuyên đâm bị thóc, chọc bị gạo giữa hàng xóm với nhau. (She specializes in stirring up trouble between neighbors.)

Related Idioms

• Vạch áo cho người xem lưng: Literally "to pull open someone's shirt to show their back to the crowd," meaning to publicly expose someone's faults or secrets, which is a form of .
  • Anh ta vạch áo cho người xem lưng đồng đội ngay trước mặt đối thủ. (He exposed his teammate's faults right in front of the opponents.)

1. Speak ill of, backbite