Definition

1. Verb (Động từ):
   • To fail, to come a cropper: "ngáp gió" is a dialectal expression meaning to fail or to be unsuccessful in an endeavor, often implying an unexpected or complete failure.
   • To miss the mark, to flop: It can also describe an attempt that does not achieve its intended goal, resulting in a futile outcome.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Dự án kinh doanh của anh ấy đã ngáp gió. (His business project came a cropper.)
  • Nếu không chuẩn bị kỹ, bạn sẽ dễ ngáp gió. (If you don't prepare carefully, you'll easily fail.)

Advanced Usage

• "bị ngáp gió": to suffer a failure.

  • Đội bóng bị ngáp gió ngay từ vòng đầu tiên. (The football team suffered a failure right from the first round.)

• "làm gì đó đến ngáp gió": to do something until it fails.

  • Anh ta cứ cố chấp theo đuổi ý tưởng đó đến ngáp gió. (He stubbornly pursued that idea until it failed.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thất bại (verb): to fail. This is the standard, non-dialectal synonym.

  • Kế hoạch đã thất bại. (The plan failed.)

• Hỏng (verb): to break down, to go wrong. Often used for mechanical failures or plans that go awry.

  • Chiếc máy đột nhiên hỏng. (The machine suddenly broke down.)

Synonyms

• Thất bại: to fail.
• Hụt hơi: to fall short, to run out of steam (can imply failing due to exhaustion or lack of resources).
• Trật đường rầy: to go off the rails (implies a plan or person deviating into failure).

Related Idioms

• "Chết đứng": to be stumped, to be at a dead end. This shares the connotation of a sudden, complete failure or stoppage.

  • Câu hỏi khó khiến nó chết đứng. (The difficult question stumped him.)

• "Xuôi tay": to give up, to admit defeat. This focuses on the resignation following failure.

  • Sau nhiều lần thất bại, anh ấy đành xuôi tay. (After many failures, he had to give up.)

Notes on Usage

• Register: "Ngáp gió" is a colloquial and dialectal term. It is more common in spoken Vietnamese, particularly in certain regions, than in formal writing.
• Connotation: The term often carries a vivid, somewhat informal tone, painting a picture of an attempt that "gasped for air" (like the literal meaning of "ngáp": to yawn, and "gió": wind) and died, emphasizing its futility.

1. (địa phương) Come a cropper (in some undertalking)