Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having an itch to speak; unable to resist the urge to say something: Describes a state where a person feels a strong, often impulsive, desire to speak out, comment, or gossip, even when it might be inappropriate or unnecessary. It implies a lack of self-restraint in speech.
   • Having a loose tongue; being talkative in a meddlesome way: Can describe a person who habitually speaks out of turn or interferes by offering unsolicited opinions or remarks.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Anh ấy ngứa miệng quá, chuyện gì cũng phải bình luận một câu. (He has such an itch to speak; he has to comment on everything.)
  • Đừng có ngứa miệng mà kể chuyện đó cho ai nghe. (Don't you dare blab and tell that story to anyone.)
  • "Mày ngứa miệng à?" là câu hỏi mang tính chất cảnh cáo khi ai đó nói điều không nên nói. ("Is your tongue itching?" is a warning question when someone says something they shouldn't.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a critical, disapproving, or warning tone to chide someone for speaking carelessly, gossiping, or revealing secrets.
• It can be used rhetorically in a question ("... à?") as a sharp rebuke, implying the speaker should keep quiet.

Variants and Related Words

• Ngứa mồm (adj): A common, slightly more colloquial variant with the same meaning as "ngứa miệng."
  • Nó ngứa mồm lắm, chuyện nhà ai cũng biết. (He has a very itchy mouth; he knows about everyone's family business.)

Synonyms

• Lắm lời: talkative, loquacious (often with a negative connotation of being verbose or meddlesome).
• Háu ăn háu nói: literally "eager to eat, eager to speak"; impulsive in both eating and speaking.
• Không giữ được mồm miệng: unable to control one's mouth; indiscreet.

Related Idioms

• While "ngứa miệng" itself is an idiomatic expression, it is closely related to the concept of:
  • Ăn không nên đọi, nói không nên lời: (To eat without knowing how to use chopsticks, to speak without knowing the right words); meaning to act and speak clumsily or inappropriately.

1. nh ngứa mồm