Definition

1. Noun:
   • Ogre / Bogeyman: A mythical monster or frightening creature from Vietnamese folklore, often used by adults to scare children into good behavior. It represents a generic, scary figure.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Mẹ dọa: "Nếu con không ngủ, ngoáo ộp sẽ đến bắt con." (Mother threatened: "If you don't sleep, the bogeyman will come and get you.")
  • Trong truyện cổ tích, ngoáo ộp thường sống trong rừng sâu. (In fairy tales, the ogre often lives in the deep forest.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used in a folkloric or metaphorical context to represent an unspecified fear or threat.

Variants and Related Words

• Ngoáo (n): A shortened, more colloquial form of "ngoáo ộp," with identical meaning and usage.

Synonyms

• Bogeyman: A general term for a monster used to frighten children.
• Ogre: A cruel or man-eating giant in folklore.
• Bugbear: A source of fear, often an imaginary one.

Related Idioms

• Dọa ngoáo ộp: To use an empty threat or to scare someone with a bogeyman story.
  • Đừng dọa ngoáo ộp trẻ con như vậy. (Don't scare the children with bogeyman stories like that.)