nan du
Definition
- Adjective:
- Difficult to deal with / troublesome: Describes a person, situation, or thing that is hard to handle, manage, or get along with due to being stubborn, unreasonable, or complicated.
- Hard to please / finicky: Refers to someone who has demanding or particular tastes, making them challenging to satisfy.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Ông bạn nan du. (He is a difficult/troublesome friend.)
- Đứa trẻ này thật nan du. (This child is very hard to please.)
- Tình huống trở nên nan du. (The situation became troublesome.)
Advanced Usage
- The term "nan du" is primarily used in colloquial or informal spoken Vietnamese to describe interpersonal challenges.
Variants and Related Words
Khó tính (adj): picky, hard to please. This is a more common synonym.
- Vị khách hàng đó rất khó tính. (That customer is very picky.)
Khó chơi (adj, informal): difficult to deal with, not easygoing.
- Anh ta nổi tiếng là khó chơi. (He is known to be difficult to deal with.)
Synonyms
- Troublesome: causing difficulty or annoyance.
- Hard to handle: difficult to manage or control.
- Finicky: fussy and hard to please.
Related Idioms
- While "nan du" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it conveys a similar meaning to the informal expression "cứng đầu cứng cổ" (stubborn, pig-headed).
- Thằng bé cứng đầu cứng cổ, đúng là nan du. (The boy is pig-headed, truly difficult to deal with.)