Definition

1. Intransitive verb:
   • To be idle/unoccupied at home: To stay at home without any specific work or activity, often due to a lack of things to do or external circumstances like bad weather.
   • To be at a loose end: To have nothing particular to do; to be bored because of inactivity.

Usage Examples

• Intransitive verb:
  • Chủ nhật trời mưa, nằm khàn ở nhà. (It's a rainy Sunday, [I'm] at a loose end at home.)
  • Mùa dịch, nhiều người phải nằm khàn, không thể đi làm. (During the pandemic season, many people had to stay idle at home, unable to go to work.)
  • Nghỉ hè mà không có kế hoạch gì, tôi chỉ nằm khàn suốt ngày. (Having no plans for the summer break, I just lazed around at home all day.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a state of forced or unproductive idleness, not a relaxing leisure time. It carries a slight nuance of boredom or restlessness.
• It is commonly used in spoken, informal Vietnamese.

Variants and Related Words

• Nhàn rỗi (adj): Free, idle, unoccupied (describing time or a person). This is a more general and neutral term for having free time.
  • thời gian nhàn rỗi (free time)
• Ở không (verb phrase): To stay idle/do nothing. A very common synonym for .
  • Cả ngày chỉ ở không xem TV. ([I] just stayed idle watching TV all day.)

Synonyms

• Ở không: To stay idle.
• Rảnh rỗi: To be free/unoccupied (often used for time, but can describe a person).
• Không có việc gì làm: To have nothing to do.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Nằm ì: To lie around idly; to be inactive or sluggish. This emphasizes physical inactivity more strongly than .
  • Anh ấy nằm ì trên ghế cả buổi chiều. (He lay around idly on the couch all afternoon.)

Related Idioms

• Chân nam đá chân chiêu: (Literally: right leg kicks left leg) To be so bored that one's legs fidget. This idiom vividly describes extreme boredom and restlessness from having nothing to do, a state that can result from .
  • Nằm khàn cả ngày, chân nam đá chân chiêu. (Being idle at home all day, [I'm] bored out of my mind.)

1. Be at a loose end
   • Chủ nhật trời mưa, nằm khàn ở nhà
     To be at a loose end at home on a rainy sunday